2016 Canada 25 Dollar 1-oz Silver Basketball Anniversary NGC PF69UCAM Early Release

Tip off Your Sports-Themed Collection!

From its humble origins as a gave invented by a gym teacher at Springfield, Massachusetts's Young Men's Christian Training School, basketball took less than a century to evolve into one of the world's most popular sports. The original game was very different from the one that we know today, with some of the most significant changes including things like cutting out the bottoms of baskets, which preceded nets, the introduction of dribbling, and the addition of the three-point line. National leagues in the United States and Europe have hundreds of millions of fans, and the sport has been included in the Summer Olympics since 1936. Although the highest paid players in the world tend to play in the United States, the sport was invented by a Canadian, James Naismith. This unique coin marks 125 years since its invention and is the perfect piece for basketball fans.

• A ROYAL CANADIAN MINT FIRST -- This 2016 125th Anniversary of the Invention of Basketball Proof is the first ever colorized convex coin issued by the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM). The shape fits perfectly with the orange basketball background.

• EXCEPTIONAL PRECISION DETAIL -- Anyone who has ever played basketball is familiar with the unique surface of the ball. The background of the reverse mimics the look and feel of a basketball beautifully, complete with a dimpled surface and recess lines.

• CANADA LEGAL TENDER -- Each 2016 Silver 125th Anniversary of the Invention of Basketball Proof is $25 legal tender in Canada.

• CERTIFIED VIRTUALLY FLAWLESS -- Your coin will be graded Proof-69 Ultra Cameo (PF69UC) by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC), a distinction that means your almost-flawless coin will showcase an impressive full strike and indistinguishable imperfections -- well above and beyond the quality of the vast majority of coins in the series.

• A LIMITED MINTAGE – Only 8,500 coins were included in this mintage.

From March Madness to the NBA Finals and the Olympic Dream Team, basketball has become an integral part of America's sporting culture. While dominated by the United States for a century, the sport has attracted global talent in recent years, with such stars as Yao Ming and Kyrie Irving. Those are tremendous accomplishments for a sport that started with people climbing up to retrieve soccer balls from baskets after the sport's invention. This piece offers a live action shot of two competing players offering the excitement of what the game has become. If you are a basketball fan, order this silver commemoration of the sport's invention while you still can!