01 · 2023
Smilodon Sabre-Toothed Cat
Long canines and braced forelimbs drive a frontal attack across the field.
View issue→
Royal Canadian Mint
Ice
Age
2023–2024
Two-ounce .9999 silver portraits of a Smilodon and a woolly mammoth—prehistoric scale rendered through sculpted relief and radial lines.
- 2
- documented issues through 2024
- 2 oz
- 62.67 grams
- .9999
- fine silver
- $10
- CAD face value
THE DOCUMENTED ISSUES
Giants in silver
The two currently documented portraits share a 38 mm, 2 oz bullion format while changing animal, scene and obverse.
02 · 2024
Woolly Mammoth
Sweeping tusks frame a shaggy body against a cold, open landscape.
View issue→ABOUT ICE AGE
Prehistory on a bullion field
The documented series history begins with the 2023 Smilodon and continues with the 2024 Woolly Mammoth, identified by the Mint as Coin #2. Both carry Julius Csotonyi reverses, the same two-ounce silver specification and year-coded maple-leaf security marks. The Mint has not stated a planned total or completion date.
PALEONTOLOGY AND DESIGN
Giants of a vanished world
Natural-history context clarifies the anatomy visible in silver; it does not supply the coin specifications or the Mint’s design claims.
Smilodon fatalis
A North American cat with elongated upper canines and robust forelimbs. The reverse brings those traits forward through an open mouth and two extended paws.
View issue →Mammuthus primigenius
A cold-steppe elephant with coarse fur, insulating fat and large curved tusks. The reverse builds its silhouette from coat texture and intersecting arcs.
View issue →38mm
TWO OUNCES, MONUMENTAL CANVAS
Relief held inside 38 millimetres
The unusually thick two-ounce format does not enlarge the diameter beyond 38 mm. Csotonyi therefore packs each animal tightly inside the rim: teeth and paws project toward the viewer in 2023, while tusks loop around a broad body in 2024. Fine radial lines keep the open fields active as light moves across them.
ENGRAVING DETAILS
Texture at close range
Fixed crops from the two reverses isolate the design’s working surfaces without repeating another full-coin gallery.
Canines and whisker lines
Deep recesses inside the mouth sharpen the two long canines; shorter cuts separate whiskers, nose and fur.
Tusks and winter coat
Smooth, bright tusks cross dense directional strokes used for the mammoth’s coat.
Radial field
Closely spaced lines radiate through the open field and continue around the legends.
Maple-leaf year mark
A micro-engraved maple leaf contains 23 or 24, tying the security detail to the year of issue.
OBVERSE TRANSITION
Elizabeth II to Charles III
The 2023 obverse carries Queen Elizabeth II with the 1952–2022 memorial marking. The 2024 obverse changes to King Charles III. The product pages identify the monarchs but do not state an obverse artist, so no artist credit is assigned here.
MINTAGE AND SERIES STATUS
No fixed mintage; no stated planned length
Each product page states that the coin has no fixed mintage. That describes the sales and production limit, not a final quantity. Two issues are documented through 2024; the Mint has not announced how many Ice Age coins were planned or whether the series is complete.
SOURCES
Coin records and natural history
Royal Canadian Mint pages establish issue identity and specifications. Museum and government sources provide the paleontological context.
- Royal Canadian Mint · 2023 Ice Age SmilodonAccessed 25 August 2026
- Royal Canadian Mint · 2024 Ice Age Woolly MammothAccessed 25 August 2026
- U.S. National Park Service · Smilodon fatalisAccessed 25 August 2026
- Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History · Mammuthus primigeniusAccessed 25 August 2026
- Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre · BeringiaAccessed 25 August 2026