MASTERFUL DESIGN CRAFTED IN FINE SILVER
This dynamic $50 fine silver coin features a proud Canadian icon – the busy beaver! From its importance among early First Nations peoples to its role in the fur trade that spawned European settlement, Castor canadensis is a renowned Canadian species and a key national symbol.

The reverse design by Canadian artist Emily Damstra captures a beaver from a unique and dramatic perspective. The top half of the image shows the beaver swimming across a lake, its head and tail raised above the water. Its tail sprays water as the beaver raises it in order to slap the lake surface and warn others of a nearby wolf. The wolf, on the left side of the image, stands with its forepaws on a boulder that juts out into the water, its gaze fixed on the fleeing beaver. The weedy shoreline curves gracefully to the right side of the coin. In the distant background, tall conifers reach for the sky. The bottom half of the image shows the beaver from under the water, as though the scene were captured through a half-submerged lens. Here we see the beaver’s dextrous forepaws and flipper-like hind feet in action, paddling the animal quickly away from the nearby predator. Show-stopping detail and the use of multiple finishes bring the engraving to life, lending buoyancy to the swimming beaver and depth to the scene that surrounds it.

Specifications

• No. 142193
• Mintage 100,000
• Composition fine silver (99.99% pure)
• Finish matte proof
• Weight (g) 15.87
• Diameter (mm) 34
• Edge serrated
• Certificate not serialized
• Face value 50 dollars
• Artist Emily Damstra (reverse), Susanna Blunt (obverse)