2013 1oz $20 THE BALD EAGLE: PORTRAIT OF POWER FINE SILVER COIN

Theme:
The first coin in the Royal Canadian Mint’s exciting new series featuring the power and beauty of the Bald Eagle—an iconic Canadian species.

Description:
This 1-ounce fine silver coin is certified to be 99.99% pure silver with a diameter of 38 millimetres and a metal weight of 31.39 grams.
The reverse image by Canadian artist Claudio D’Angelo features a stunning profile portrait of a bald eagle head. Viewed from its left side, the striking raptor fixes the viewer with its legendary gaze, its wide eye staring powerfully below its snowy feathered brow. The intricate patterns of its white head feathers are rendered in dimensional detail by Royal Canadian Mint engravers. The eagle’s sharply curved beak is open to highlight its pointed curve. The reverse image is engraved with the word “CANADA,” the date “2013,” and the face value of “20 DOLLARS.” This coin also features unique edge lettering, with the words “1 OZ FINE SILVER 1 OZ ARGENT PUR” engraved around the edge of the coin.

The obverse features the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt.

Special Features:

• The first release in the Royal Canadian Mint’s exciting new series of 1-ounce fine silver coins featuring the iconic Bald Eagle as seen from different perspectives.
• Celebrate the life and habits of an astonishing Canadian predator with a coin of stunning artistry.
• Comes in a custom beauty box that includes a full-colour image of the reverse design by Canadian nature artist Claudio D’Angelo.
• Very low mintage of only 7,500 coins means that each coin in this series is sure to be sought after by collectors.
• Unique edge lettering of “1 OZ FINE SILVER 1 OZ ARGENT PUR” on a plain edge.
• Features a beautifully engraved and frosted eagle portrait against a brilliant background.
• A beautiful addition to any collection featuring fine artwork, natural images, native species of Canada, or Canadiana.
• A thoughtful and valuable gift for nature lovers and art aficionados.

Product Specifications:
Face Value: 20 dollars
Mintage: 7,500
Composition: 99.99% fine silver
Weight (g): 31.39
Diameter (mm): 38
Edge: Plain with edge-lettering
Finish: Proof
Certificate: Serialized
Artist: Claudio D’Angelo

Packaging
Coin is encapsulated and presented in a Royal Canadian Mint branded maroon clamshell case lined with flock and protected by a custom beauty box.
Finished Size: 67mm x 67mm

Portrait of Power
The amazing bald eagle—Haliaeetus leucocephalus—is Canada’s largest bird of prey and the only eagle exclusive to North America. An apex predator with no natural enemies, the bald eagle has long been a potent symbol of vision, power, and stoicism. The adult boasts a wing span of more than 2 metres, a standing height of about 1 metre, and an average weight of up to 7 kilograms. Females are generally larger than males. The renowned raptor is noted for its distinctive dark-feathered body and white-feathered head, large golden eyes, bright yellow beak, and massive yellow claws armed with sharp, powerful talons. This long-lived bird can survive nearly 30 years in the wild and even longer in captivity. Nesting in tall trees near large bodies of water and well away from human habitation, bald eagles survive on a diet of fish, birds, invertebrates, and small mammals, but are opportunistic feeders who will also steal from other predators and eat carrion.

Dominated by a massive, sharply curved yellow beak, the adult bald eagle’s distinctive head is covered to the neck with long, smooth white feathers. The arrangement of the feathers above its large golden eyes gives the adult eagle a frowning countenance that is perhaps a factor in the bird’s symbolic associations with power. The most important attribute on this iconic head, however, is the eyes. About four times more powerful than human sight, eagles’ vision, which is full-colour, has two focal centres, allowing the bird to see both in front and behindin a single glance. The eyes remain clean and moist with the help of translucent nictitating membranes that allow the bird to “blink” without disrupting its gaze. It is this gifted vision that empowers the eagle to spot relatively small prey underwater or in grassy plains while soaring hundreds of metres in the air—despite these prey animals’ natural camouflage.

The bald eagle breathes through “naris” or nostrils on each side of its large beak. The beak itself, though impressive in size and shape, is used almost exclusively for tearing food and does not play a major role in hunting or fighting—the tasks of the bird’s massive talons. The bald eagle is not a vocal bird; its call resembles that of a gull. Its hearing, though not as keen as its sight, is about the same as that of most humans.

In Canada, most bald eagle populations are concentrated along the Pacific coast; however, stable smaller populations are also found across the prairie provinces, in Northern Ontario, on Cape Breton Island, and in Newfoundland. At-risk populations are found in southern Ontario and New Brunswick.