2016 $20 1 oz Fine Silver Coin Baby Animals: Porcupine (146984)

Description

A solitary tree dweller, the porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) thrives in Canada's varied landscapes where it is just as comfortable huddled on a tall branch as it is scampering along rock piles and ledges. Its offspring, called a porcupette, is an adorable specimen with a little face and tiny legs—but don't let that fool you! Right from its birth, the porcupette is armed with its own armour: its famous quills, which are soft at first but harden within the first hours of life; this helps even the youngest of the species deter its enemies as it learns to live and thrive in Canada's wilderness.

A wonderful coin to start a young person's collection! Order today!

Special features:

• Seventh coin in the Royal Canadian Mint's Baby Animals series that tenderly depicts young wildlife in a natural setting.
• Finely-detailed engraving is complemented by the use of selective colouring to recreate theporcupette's dark-coloured coat and its pink clover feast.
• Your coin is crafted from 99.99% pure silver, is GST/HST exempt, and has a limited worldwide mintage.

About the Design:
The reverse design by Canadian artist Trevor Tennant depicts a young porcupine (porcupette) in one of Canada'smany forests. Selective colour enhances the detailed engraving and brings this side-view image to life, recreating the porcupette's dense black coatintermingled with long guard hairs and white-tinged quills. While the mother in the engraved background has turned a curious eye toward the viewer, the dark-coloured porcupette seems unconcerned with our intrusion; its attention is innocently focused on the pink clover and green leaves that have sprung up from the forest floor at the foot of a tree. Gripping the wildflower in its forepaw, the porcupette brings it to its mouth to enjoy a small feast as part of the transition to its herbaceous diet.

Did you know…

• A single North American porcupine, it may have over 30,000 quills!
• When the porcupine is at ease, the quills lie flat; once threatened, the porcupine's quills stand on end to deter would-be attackers.
• Contrary to popular belief, the porcupine doesn't throw itsquills at a predator when threatened; instead, the prickly rodent uses quick, jerky movements as it lashes its tail, causing loose quills to detach.
• A porcupine's quills swell after embedding themselves into a predator's skin, which makes them more painful and difficult to remove.
• Just like a beaver, the porcupine uses its front teeth to gnaw on objects such as wood, bones, and even antlers.
• The fisher (Martes pennanti) is the porcupine's greatest enemy; this member of the weasel family will resort to getting the porcupine flipped onto its back so that it exposes its underbelly, which is not protected by quills.
• While porcupines may be slow-moving and short-sighted,they're believed to possess a good memory and can learn quickly.

Packaging:
Your coin is encapsulated and presented in a Royal Canadian Mint-branded maroon clamshell with a black beauty box.