The Royal Canadian Mint’s six-coin, three-year Canadian Wildlife silver bullion series will feature its third release next month when the 2012 Silver Cougar Bullion Coin is issued.
Details of the strike were recently announced by the Mint, including its expected September 2011 release and 1,000,000 limited mintage.
"Issuing products which stand out in the competitive bullion industry has helped the Mint achieve a reputation as the source of the world’s purest and most innovative bullion coins," commented Ian E. Bennett, President and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint about the pending release.
Like the first two issues featuring a grizzly and depicting a wolf, the Cougar silver bullion coin is composed from .9999 fine silver. As a comparison, the popular American Silver Eagle bullion coin from the United States Mint is struck from .999 fine silver and has a much larger mintage that is determined by demand (nearly 29 million in 2011 through to August).
2012 Silver Cougar Bullion Coin Designs and Specifications
The Canadian Wildlife silver bullion series features reverse designs emblematic of the diverse array of wildlife that can be encountered in the vast landscape of Canada. Among those creatures is the cougar which is shown on the reverse of this one ounce silver strike. The cougar is also known as puma, mountain lion, mountain cat, catamount or panther in other regions of the world.
Senior Royal Canadian Mint Engraver William Woodruff is responsible for the design of the large cat. It depicts the Canadian cougar with its front paws grasped on a fallen inclined tree limb baring its large teeth with an open mouth. The inscriptions of CANADA, 9999, FINE SILVER, 1 OZ, ARGENT PUR and the initials WW for the designer are also shown on the reverse.
Canadian Wildlife silver bullion coins are struck as legal tender of Canada and feature face values of 5 DOLLARS which is indicated on the obverse. That is joined by the Susanna Blunt effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and additional inscriptions of 2011 and ELIZABETH II.
Bullion Coin Distribution
Bullion products from the Royal Canadian Mint (http://www.mint.ca/) are not sold directly to the public. They are instead offered through the Mint’s network of bullion dealers at market rates close to the current trading price of the precious metals they contain. This is the same method the Royal Canadian Mint uses to distribute its popular Maple Leaf bullion coins.
Wonderful, what will be the last 3 designs? Is it announced yet or will it be a surprise?
My guess… A moose, elk and a goose. Maybe a seal or polar bear?
This is one ‘butt ugly’ design. Poorly proportioned, the mouth don’t match the head, the tail is overly large and the legs with three toes are not appropriate in size. I’d be embarrassed to issue this one. I’ll buy it however to keep the collection going… That is a distorted cat….
Somebody please tell the RCM not to even release this coin. It is absolutely horrible.
POPS sure said a mouthful and i agree with him 110 % I can not believe canada let this coin be put out . UGLY is not the word for it . the artist that did this model should quit .I am not anxious to see any more of this series .
Yes I would have to agree they , all 3 so far are UGLY. But Because of my respect for the fine quality (.9999) Silver , The 5.$ face value and most important the Canadian Wildlife Series is only 3 years long with 2 coins Per year Total of 6. So I guess I will go ahead and get 4 sets of each Ugly animal. I really feel after the Last coin is completely sold out and can not be found lets say in 2015 ? I feel this 6 Pc. Set will fetch quite a nice price. And the… Read more »
What is that? A cougar/T-rex hybrid? A cougar on steroids? Also, how can they say that this is a three year, two coins per year, series? 2011 is the first year of the series, and this will be the third coin released this year.
That is the worst art you can get. Honestly.. did it get proofed? I would like to see the person proofing it. “Excellent Face” “Those 3 fat toes are beautiful” “I like how the other foot has more toes” “Those front paws look great. Especially the one where it looks like his paw was cut off and it just merged with the tree branch.” “I like how you went with an out of shape cougar with some fat rolls on his back… it reminds me of 90% of the population. People will really relate to this masterpiece.” “Consider this coin… Read more »
I think this coin is better than a silver eagle, at least there are only 1 million made. Maybe there will be a mistake, mint error in some to make them more valuable. I think all of them could be polished or should I say the dies be polished better so they all don’t have lines on the queens side of the coin.
They are cool. Aint nothing like them in the world, thats for sure! Cats a little whacky, no doubt, but should be good premiums in future
You are all asking good questions. Maybe the government doesn’t want anyone to buy them, hence the distortion. I guess one cud melt them? Isn’t silver still silver at the current$ 34.00 an oz.
Is this really Canadian cougars look like? Geez, maybe there is too much inbreeding. Perhaps Salvador Dali designed the coin!