It’s a Bird…It’s a Plane…It’s Canadian Money?

To celebrate Superman’s 75th Anniversary, the Royal Canadian Mint has issued seven different commemorative coins. Why is Canada marking this milestone in such a noteworthy and fiscal manner? Comic Book Resources explains:

While Superman was created in 1933 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster when they were teenagers living in Cleveland, Shuster was actually born in Toronto, and lived there until age 9 or 10. He worked as a newspaper boy for the Toronto Daily Star, whose building served as a model for the Daily Planet (originally called the Daily Star).

“The generations of young people who grew up reading Superman comics may not have fully appreciated the story behind them,” Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander said in a statement. “Our government celebrates Canada’s history and heritage and the very values and strengths that Superman embodies.”

All seven of the coins can be viewed here, but it should be noted that they vary in price from $29.75 to a bank-depleting $750 for the 14-karat gold Superman: The Early Years coin that is featured at the top of this post.Oh great, another post with the “awesome things you’ll never own” tag. Joy. Look, I’m hardly the world’s biggest Superman fan and these things have impressed me. Maybe it’s just my fondness for bizarre ancillary merchandise, but I love the idea of strutting around with a Supes coin in my pocket while I walk around Yonge Street enjoying my free healthcare before catching a Tragically Hip concert. Or some other cliched Canadian thing. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to listen to Crash Test Dummies’ “Superman’s Song” and feel pensive for awhile. As it turns out, Superman did make money from saving the world from Solomon Grundy after all.