10 Dollars - Elizabeth II Year of the Rat

Canada's Lunar New Year series has always been aimed squarely at the gift and collector market rather than circulation, and the Year of the Rat entry is no exception. The rat holds a particular position in the Chinese zodiac as the first sign — a status earned, according to tradition, by outwitting the ox in a race across a river.

The .9999 fineness is notable: finer than the standard .999 used by most sovereign mints for bullion and collector silver, a specification the RCM has consistently used as a commercial differentiator since the 1980s.