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.
