Description
Theme:
This 1/10th ounce coin is the 5th in the Royal Canadian Mint’s exciting new O Canada sub series focusing on iconic Canadian animals, this beautiful coin celebrates one of Canada’s most fascinating marine species—the orca.
Description:
This coin is certified to be 99.99% gold with a diameter of 16 millimetres and a metal weight of 3.14 grams. The reverse design by Canadian artists Pierre Leduc presents a three-quarter profile portrait of an orca emerging from the water, seeming to gaze at the viewer with the curiosity of a wise and intelligent species. Its two pectoral fins jut forward, helping the orca keep its large head above water. Around it rise whitecapped waves of splashing water. In the background, we see the tall, straight dorsal of a mature male, curved large dorsal of a female, and small curved dorsal of an orca calf in the distant waters—members, no doubt, of this beautiful animal’s family group or pod. In the distance, the shoreline of Canada’s Northwest Pacific coast is visible, with its rugged outcroppings and tall evergreens. The reverse image is framed with a border engraved with the word “CANADA,” the date “2013,” the face value of “5 DOLLARS,” and a stylized orca tail fin. The obverse features the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt.
Special Features:
- This is the 5th and final 1/10th ounce gold coin in the Royal Canadian Mint’s exciting new O Canada sub series. The series focuses on iconic Canadian images to celebrate all that makes Canada unique. Stuck in premium proof finish and rendered in 99.99% pure gold with limited mintages, this coin is sure to be sought after by collectors.
- Part of a sub-series of three coins portraying the iconic orca in three distinct scenarios, all engraved in exquisite detail and set against the backdrop of the Canada’s Northwest Pacific coast—part of Canada’s distinct landscape.
- A great gift and collectible to celebrate Canada’s natural wonders, the Canadian North, Canada’s animal species, and the country’s unique iconography.
- An excellent addition to any collection focused around nature or Canadiana.
Product Specifications:
Item Number: 123927
UPC: 6-23932-04605-4
Face Value: 5 dollars
Mintage: 4,000
Composition: 99.99% pure gold
Weight (g): 3.14
Diameter (mm): 16
Edge: Serrated
Finish: Proof
Certificate: Serialized
Artist: Pierre Leduc
Packaging:
Each coin is encapsulated and presented in a maroon clamshell case lined with flock and protected by a customized full color beauty box.
Finished size: 67 mm x 67 mm
Complete certificate text:
O Canada
Canada’s national identity is much like its majestic landscape: diverse, storied, and sometimes elusive. In the ever-changing tectonics of Canadian culture, identifiers tend to reflect the nation’s multicultural nature and its geography, fauna and flora, and social and political institutions. Born of this complex background, Canadian icons are distinct because they carry meaning for all Canadians, regardless of where we live or how we came to be here. These are the images that plumb the depths of Canadian pride and kindle Canadians’ love for their home.
The Amazing Marine Society of the Orca
The species Orcinus orca, known commonly as the “orca” or “killer whale,” is one of the planet’s most uniquely social mammals. Only elephants and higher primates have societies that are as complex and robust as that of the orca. This marine mammal’s social structure, which some researchers refer to as a “culture,” reveals familial bonds, modes of communication, hunting habits, and other practices that are passed on for generations.
Orca social structure is matrilineal, centering on a maternal group that includes a mother and her offspring. Because female orcas can live up to 80 or 90 years in the wild, these family groups include up to three or four generations. Unlike other mammals, orcas stay with their maternal group—or in close regional proximity to it—for their entire lives.
Groups of families that are known to travel and socialize together are referred to as pods. In Canada’s Pacific Northwest region, for instance, there are approximately 20 resident pods comprising a total of more than 300 orcas, common on the coast from spring to fall. These pods are broken into two communities: the Southern Resident group of about 90 individuals and the Northern Resident group of about 240 individuals. Fascinatingly, these two communities have never been known to mix.
Orca society is further delineated by dialect. Orcas have distinctive vocal communication abilities that include a variety of whistles, clicks, and pulses. They use these sounds for echolocation of prey, navigation, and social interaction and communication. Their vocabulary of sounds is sufficiently distinctive between groups that orca populations are classified into linguistic clans—pods that share the same collection of calls.
Orcinus orca is the largest member of the dolphin family. It is a massive species whose males are 8 metres long in average, weighing more than 6 tonnes and whose females are slightly smaller, 7 metres in average, and weighing up to 4 tonnes. The orca is the fastest marine mammal on Earth and can swim at speeds of almost 60 kilometres per hour (30 knots). It is known for its distinctive black colouring with white markings behind the eyes, belly, and sides of its large, dense body. It is noted for its intelligence and playfulness with humans, such as fishermen, even in the wild. Orcas are found around the world, in water bodies of all depths, temperatures, and salinity. Canadian orca populations in the Pacific and Atlantic have varied protection status depending on their home region and transience habits.
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