Catalog
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| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 2005 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 7 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents a naturalistic composition featuring two tufted puffins (Fratercula cirrhata) perched amid coastal grasses in the foreground, rendered in high relief with fine feather detail; one bird faces left while the other is positioned above and behind it. A rocky island coastline is depicted in the middle ground, with seabirds suggested in flight across the horizon. The legend CANADA arcs across the upper field and DOLLAR across the lower field, with the date 2005 inscribed to the lower left of the central design. |
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| Additional information |
The Tufted Puffin dollar replaced the standard loon on this specimen issue, part of the RCM's broader effort in the early 2000s to introduce wildlife diversity into annual sets. The Tufted Puffin — native to Pacific coastal waters from California up through Alaska and the Aleutians — has only a marginal presence in Canadian waters, making it an unusual choice against more emblematic species.
Specimen-finish dollars from this period were struck exclusively for collector sets and saw no circulation whatsoever, preserving the surface quality the loon-issue business strikes rarely retained.