If there’s a silver lining to UFO experiences in Canada, it’s that the Canadian government is recognizing these events as culturally significant — and worth a mint. The Royal Canadian Mint, that is, as it released the seventh coin in its Canada’s Unexplained Phenomena series in September.
For this moment in Canadian ufology, the Mint spotlighted an encounter in Langenburg, Saskatchewan, where on the morning of September 1, 1974, farmer Edwin Fuhr witnessed five saucer-shaped objects while swathing his fields, not far from his family home. As Fuhr drove his tractor along the field, he noticed what he thought were duck blinds — silver objects scattered in the field.
Chris Rutkowski, a researcher of the uncanny known for his annual UFO reports, spoke with Fuhr in the past on multiple occasions.
“He thought these people were invading the property,” Rutkowski said in an October phone conversation. He added that once Fuhr climbed atop his tractor seat for a better view, he could see the objects were not duck blinds but upside-down, spinning silver bowls.
“As he watched, they took off one by one, still spinning,” Rutkowski added. The craft left behind swirled patches in the field — what we now call crop circles. “He was very shaken by this.”
The Fuhr family was concerned as the then-36-year-old recounted his experience. Family members inspected the field, confirming the strange patches, and the RCMP was called in to investigate.
Constable Ron Morier was the officer who took the call and admitted in a September 2024 interview with CBC that he was “a bit baffled.” The event captured both the public’s imagination and the media’s attention.
In addition to local authorities, the Center for UFO Studies also arrived in Langenburg to conduct tests. “It was a pretty interesting case, given that there were markings left after a close encounter of the second kind,” Rutkowski said. “UFOs have been a part of our culture and history for some time, and for these events to be recognized is quite remarkable.”
The Langenburg coin is part of a rare collector’s series, with only 6,500 minted. Previous coins in the series, with prints ranging from 4,000 to 5,000, depict other Canadian UFO sightings, each featuring a glowing colour effect under black light.
London, Ontario-born and Richmond, B.C.-based artist Steve Hepburn had the pleasure of designing the coin, capturing Fuhr’s first-person perspective from his tractor.
“It was a lot of fun because it’s not a typical job for them,” Hepburn said in an October phone interview. “It opens your eyes; you hear these things, and it’s like, ‘Wow.’ It’s pretty interesting.”
Although Hepburn neither believes nor disbelieves in extraterrestrials, he takes a pragmatic view — given the discovery of other galaxies and exoplanets, he acknowledges that “we’re not alone out there.”
To draw inspiration for the coin’s design, Hepburn watched interviews with Fuhr.
“You watch these interviews and try to put yourself in his place; try to imagine what would be going through your head and try to explain what you’re seeing,” he said. “I’m sure he’s used to working with his hands—quite mechanically inclined, no doubt — so for him to watch these things spinning there and to try to understand, ‘How can that be?’”
The process from concept to minting took over a year to complete. Previous coins in the series depict other notable Canadian UFO encounters, including:
- Falcon Lake, Manitoba; May 20, 1967
- Shag Harbour, Nova Scotia; October 4, 1967
- Hôtel Bonaventure Montréal; November 7, 1990
- Clarenville, Newfoundland; October 26, 1978
- Duncan, British Columbia; January 1, 1970
- Fox Lake, Yukon; December 11, 1996
The coin is available for purchase online from the Mint’s website or at its boutique stores in Ottawa and Winnipeg.