2 Dollars - Elizabeth II Polar bear, In Specimen Sets

Canada's bimetallic toonie has been included in annual Specimen sets since the denomination's introduction in 1996, with the Royal Canadian Mint producing these sets specifically for collectors who want business-strike designs in a higher-quality finish without crossing into full proof territory. The Specimen finish — produced by manually feeding polished blanks through specially cleaned dies at reduced press speeds — sits between circulation and proof quality, and the RCM has refined the process considerably over the decades covered by this date range.

The brass-plated aluminum bronze center replaced a pure bronze core in 2012, driven by rising commodity costs that made the original composition increasingly uneconomical to strike at scale.