Royal Canadian Mint honours Filipino Canadians with stunning new pearl coin
One-ounce gold coin designed by Vancouver artist Bert Monterona features mother-of-pearl inlay and sells for $8,849.95.
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The Royal Canadian Mint has released a new coin celebrating Canada's Filipino community, one of the country's fastest-growing cultural groups. The Resilience coin honours the strength and contributions of Filipino Canadians through intricate design and materials rooted in Filipino tradition.
The coin weighs one ounce and is made of 99.99 per cent pure gold, featuring an inlay of genuine mother-of-pearl — a material long used in traditional Filipino art, jewellery, furniture, and design for its luminous quality. The piece has a face value of $200 but retails at $8,849.95, with only 275 available worldwide. A silver version with simulated mother-of-pearl is also available at $269.95.
Vancouver-based Filipino-Canadian artist Bert Monterona designed the coin, which comprises multiple concentric rings representing various elements of Filipino culture. The outer ring features a rope pattern symbolizing strength and diversity, followed by a circle of banderitas — small, colourful flags used in celebrations and fiestas. The next ring displays mountain ranges and the swimming Sarimanok, a mythical bird representing migration, adaptability, and perseverance.
A row of heart motifs nods to the deep community bonds that unite Filipinos. Moving inward, Canadian sugar maple leaves blend with okir motifs, a traditional plant-based Filipino design. At the coin's heart is an engraved sun inspired by the Filipino flag, with mother-of-pearl inlay at the centre.
"I've been weaving okir and Sarimanok motifs into my work since 1984, and they appear here," Monterona said. "But the heart, alternating upright and inverted, is something special: it is the universal symbol of love and humanity — you can't build a nation or community without heart."
The coins are available on the Royal Canadian Mint's website, with shipping beginning July 6.