25 Cents - Elizabeth II Ruby-throated Hummingbird

This piece belongs to the RCM's "Lucky Loonie" spin-off period, when the mint was aggressively expanding into coloured and specimen coinage aimed squarely at the collector market rather than circulation. The ruby-throated hummingbird is the only hummingbird species that breeds east of the Mississippi and across most of Canada's populated south — a deliberate choice for a coin intended to move through gift shops and nature centres rather than cash registers.

The selective colouring was applied using a proprietary process the RCM had been refining since its first coloured quarter in 1999, issued for Remembrance Day.