ROYAL CANADIAN MINT · FINITE SILVER BULLION SERIES
2011—2013
Six Canadian animals appear across a complete six-coin bullion programme by two reverse artists.
A six-coin field guide in silver.
ABOUT THE SERIES
The Royal Canadian Mint opened the series with a 2011-dated Wolf announced in September 2010 and closed it with the 2013 Wood Bison in February 2013.
Two releases were assigned to each coin date. Announcements for late-year releases sometimes preceded the date on the coin. Royal Canadian Mint release notices identify the Pronghorn as the fifth coin and the Wood Bison as the sixth and final issue.
THE SIX RELEASES
From the Timber Wolf to the Wood Bison, each release focuses on a different Canadian species and a distinct reverse composition.
CANADIAN WILDLIFE STORY
The programme moves through ecosystems as much as animals. Landscape becomes progressively more active across the six reverses.
Wolf begins above a dark conifer line: animal, habitat and night sky read as one.
Grizzly and Cougar compress wilderness into tense, close encounters.
Pronghorn opens the horizon; Wood Bison closes with motion and conservation.
DESIGN EVOLUTION
Across the six releases, Woodruff’s four reverses move from stillness to confrontation and profile, followed by Damstra’s wider prairie and water scenes.
Moon, conifers, standing wolf
William WoodruffRoaring bear, water, mountain
William WoodruffSnarling cat on a diagonal limb
William WoodruffProfile, palmate antlers, low brush
William WoodruffPrairie vista and distant hills
Emily S. DamstraGalloping bison through shallow water
Emily S. DamstraARTISTS
The obverse remains Susanna Blunt's Elizabeth II portrait throughout; the reverse authorship changes for the two 2013-dated coins.
Issues 1–4
Issues 5–6
All six obverses
COMMON SPECIFICATION
All six coins share the same standard physical specification.
RELEASE + MINTAGE RECORDS
Published wording varies between a production quantity and a maximum. Allocation and sold-out statements do not establish final per-issue mintage totals.
| Seq. | Coin date | Issue | Announcement / launch | Quantity wording | Source statement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 2011 | Timber Wolf | 9 Sep 2010 | 1,000,000 | Production quantity announced · fully allocated |
| 02 | 2011 | Grizzly | 28 Jan 2011 | 1,000,000 | Contemporary report · fully allocated |
| 03 | 2012 | Cougar | 30 Aug 2011 | 1,000,000 | Contemporary report: maximum · final total not published |
| 04 | 2012 | Moose | 3 Feb 2012 | 1,000,000 | Official maximum · final total not published |
| 05 | 2013 | Pronghorn | 9 Aug 2012 | 1,000,000 | Official maximum · final total not published |
| 06 | 2013 | Wood Bison | 1 Feb 2013 | 1,000,000 | Official maximum · RCM reports the issue sold out |
Final per-issue mintages were not published for the six coins; maximums, allocation and sell-out statements are shown without treating them as final totals.
SOURCES
Royal Canadian Mint release notices, annual reports and its archive document the programme. Contemporary coin-news reports supplement the record for the Grizzly and Cougar.
All six coins share the one-ounce .9999 silver and CAD $5 standard; proof, coloured and privy-marked versions are distinct products.