Superman swoops onto Canadian coins

It's a penny! It's a dollar! It's a Superman coin! Canada lays claim to half of the Superman creation team. Canadian Joe Shuster invented the famous superhero along with American Jerry Siegel. That's why the Royal Canadian Mint has chosen to honor the Man of Steel with a special 75th anniversary coin set.

The coins are shinier than a speeding bullet, smaller than a locomotive, and able to be carried into tall buildings in a single pocket. They are also legal tender, though you're not going to want to drop them into a vending machine. One of the least expensive options is a $10-face-value silver coin depicting Superman breaking chains around his chest. The price to acquire the coin is about $44.

The most expensive of the bunch costs about $725 for a $75-face-value coin crafted from 14-karat gold. It reenacts the cover of the Superman No. 1 comic book and is limited to 2,000 coins.

If you want something flash for a little less cash, there's a base-metal coin and commemorative stamp set for about $29. What sets this coin apart is its lenticular design showing either a modern or a vintage Superman when you tilt it.

The stamp that comes with that set is from Canada Post's special release of Superman stamps, also timed to celebrate the anniversary. Those stamps cover Superman images pulled from the comic books over the years.

The mint didn't shy away from getting fancy. If you want a really unusual coin for your Superman collection, then check out the $20-face-value silver hologram coin.

The Mint proclaims this as, "Two world firsts in one! This coin is pure science fiction! The first coin ever to feature an achromatic hologram -- a three-dimensional image created with nanotechnology-based imaging. And the first time Superman appears on a Royal Canadian Mint coin." That sounds pretty super.