World Coins

RCM ends Birds of Prey silver bullion series

The Royal Canadian Mint celebrates the Great Horned Owl on the fourth, and final, design in the Birds of Prey 1-ounce silver bullion coin series.

Images courtesy of the Royal Canadian Mint.

The final Birds of Prey 1-ounce silver bullion $5 coin from Canada is now available.

The Royal Canadian Mint on Aug. 11 revealed that the series’ new 2015 coin celebrates the great horned owl, a large owl native to the Americas, with a range spanning from the Arctic to South America.

The Owl coin is the fourth and final release in a two-year program that began in 2014. Two coins were issued each year, one at the year’s World Money Fair in Berlin and the other at the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money. Earlier issues celebrate the red-tailed hawk (2015), bald eagle (2014) and peregrine falcon (2014).

The Birds of Prey silver $5 coins each weigh 1 ounce and measure 38 millimeters in diameter, the same specifications as the Maple Leaf 1-ounce silver bullion coin. Mintages of the Birds of Prey coins have been limited to 1 million per design.

The Great Horned Owl coin’s reverse was designed by acclaimed Canadian illustrator Emily Damstra. The image of the airborne hunter descending on its prey is polished and contrasts starkly with the lined bullion finish of the coin’s fields. 

The obverse carries the Susanna Blunt effigy of Queen Elizabeth II.

The Owl coin has now been shipped to the Royal Canadian Mint’s network of official bullion distributors. 

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