2005 50-CENT STERLING SILVER COIN - MONARCH BUTTERFLY

2005 BUTTERFLY COLLECTION – MONARCH

Their bright and colourful wing patterns are a marvel.
And every summer, people around the world are
witness to a fluttering art show as these natural works
of art take flight. Antarctica is the only continent
without butterflies. Of the 24,000 species in the
world, Canada is home to 297 of them, including the
captivating Monarch (Danaus plexippus), arguably the
most recognized butterfly in North America. Its
bright orange wings with thick, dark veins and black
borders spotted in white produce a bold design one
isn’t likely to forget. Such visibility should make the
Monarch an easy target for predators, but that is
hardly the case. Monarch caterpillars feed exclusively
on milkweeds and in doing so, accumulate the plant’s
emetic poisons that birds abhor  a defensive
measure so effective that the edible Viceroy butterfly
(Limenitis archippus) has evolved to mimic the
Monarch’s appearance. Imitation may be the best
form of flattery, but the Monarch’s greatest
accomplishment by far is its migration. It boasts the
longest range of any insect in the world! Every year,
millions of Monarchs flutter their way from southern
Canada to central Mexico 4,000 km (2,489 mi) away
to escape winter’s cold yet another strategy that
preserves the beautiful Monarch for us to enjoy.

specifications:

Face Value: 50 cents
Mintage: 20,000
Composition: 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper
Weight (g): 9.30
Diameter (mm): 27.13
Edge: Serrated
Finish: Proof

Special features:

• Sterling silver coin with the distinctive black and
• orange colouration of the Monarch butterfly
• painted onto a sculpted design.
• Third in the Butterfly series, following the
• Canadian Tiger Swallowtail hologram coin and
• the Clouded Sulphur selective gold plated coin.