Marking an end to the successful Canadian Wildlife series is the new 2013 Canadian Wood Bison Silver Bullion Coin.
Officially unveiled by the Royal Canadian Mint earlier this month at the World Money Fair in Berlin, the last issue in the six-coin series features a Wood bison galloping through the countryside.
"The Mint has been delighted by consistent customer enthusiasm for our Silver Wildlife bullion coin series and while it is ending with a sixth and final coin" said Ian E. Bennett, President and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint. "We look forward to continue introducing variety to the bullion market and to building interest in our industry-leading products."
Like past issues in the Canadian Wildlife series, the Wood bison coin is minted to one ounce of 99.99% pure silver, has a diameter of 38.00 mm and a thickness of 3.29 mm. And also like previous coins, its mintage is limited to 1,000,000.
Canadian artist Emily Damstra designed the coin’s reverse image of the Wood bison in its native woodland habitat. Inscriptions include CANADA, 9999, FINE SILVER 1 OZ ARGENT PUR and Damstra’s initials of ED.
Found on the obverse is Susan Blunt’s effigy of Queen Elizabeth II. Inscriptions include ELIZABETH II, 5 DOLLARS, and 2013.
Wood bison are known for their wooly coats, horns, large heads and large size with males weighing over 900 kilograms (2,000 pounds). Once numbered to several hundred thousand, Canadian Wood bison were nearly extinct by the early 1900’s as a result of over hunting and human encroachment. Conservation efforts are credited in reviving their population with more than 10,000 now in the wild.
Previous releases in the Canadian Wildlife series include:
- 2011 Canadian Wolf Silver Bullion Coin
- 2011 Canadian Grizzly Silver Bullion Coin
- 2012 Canadian Cougar Silver Bullion Coin
- 2012 Canadian Moose Silver Bullion Coin
- 2013 Canadian Pronghorn Antelope Silver Bullion Coin
As a bullion product, the Royal Canadian Mint will not sell Canadian Wood Bison Silver Bullion Coins directly to the public. Instead, they are distributed through a worldwide network of approved dealers and sold like Silver Maple Leaf bullion coins for a small premium over their melt value.
What an ugly coin. The RCM really screwed this up. Bison are such an awesome animal and they really made this coin look like a joke. I will buy one just complete my Canadian Wildlife Set but really disappointed with the look of this one.
I like it. Ill bet it has more value than the ASE.
Yeah it cause it’s only going to have a mintage of 1mm. Fact is it is the ugliest of the 6 from the series.
I tend to agree here….an artistic “miss” on the Bison. Not so much the bison itself but the distracting woods background. Yeah I know its a “wood” bison. But the way it is causes it to lose the detail of the head. Now maybe it will look better ih hand? Nevertheless a great series by the RCM. I only wish three things…
1) A proof version for collectors
2) More in the series
3) A collector set in proof….seems to me the beauty of the series is wasted on a bullion coin.
I hope this coin will not get the milky spots some Maples have. With a mintage of only a million it´s an interesting alternative for Maples.
Has any one noticed a wide reed edge on the wood bison? Its different from the first five of the wildlife series. Possible error?
I disagree with the above negative comments especially the first poster who gives not a single reason for his dislike. This coin has excellent detail and all available space on the coin is used and not wasted like on the moose coin, there are no glaring mistakes like the misaligned teeth and 3 toes on the cougar coin. The pic above does not do justice to the coin, instead view the HD youtube vids on this coin. This is actually one of the better designs in the series.
@Eve Silver, most RCM coins are unfortunately susceptible to milk spotting, however they can be safely removed with jewelry wipes from your local Walmart.
A tip, use cotton gloves when handling these coins.
Personally, I think the Bison is on par with the Timber Wolf. ‘Silver Bison’ has a ring to it that I really like. The design is good, don’t see what the problem is there although the foreground is meant to be snow but rather looks like water. The wildlife series in general is good for investment and for collectors and certainly adds diversity to the bullion coin choice.