2016 Canada $8 Snowy Gyrfalcon and the 1958 British Columbia Silver Dollar

“Black birds tend to like shiny things” ~ The Bloody Raven

The Post Canada Day Shiny Show Continues.

Following on the coattails of the Canadian Birds of Prey series, is the fourth release in the Canadian Wildlife series is this gorgeous piece minted on a chunky feeling 1.5 Troy oz. coin.

2016 Canada 8 Dollar Snowy Gyrfalcon

Reverse; The Snowy Gyrfalcon

Text; CANADA 2016, 9999 FINE SILVER,1½ OZ, ARGENT PUR 9999

Diameter 38mm, Thickness 4.5mm

Silver 0.9999, Weight 46.65g

Designer; Steve Hepburn

It's a beautiful subject to have on a coin but I can imagine the difficulty of making this magnificent bird contrast out more on the reverse. The color blending of the Gyrfalcon doesn't lend itself to image well and perhaps raising the relief may have helped. Apparently, the RCM decided on a matte field against the mottled plumage of the Gyrfalcon. As you can see, it's almost as if the bird is blending into the background. If I were the Mint Engraver, I'd consider this a very difficult design to coin.

Snowy by Emma under CCO 2.0

The Snowy appearance of this magnificent bird of prey is influenced by the Arctic geography of the Canadian north distinguishing it phenotypically from its darker more temperate climate cousins. This species are dimorphic with the female up to 65cm long, 160cm wingspan, and 2,100g wt., larger than the male up to 61cm long, 130cm wingspan, and 1,350g wt.

The similar Peregrine Falcon’s dive speed is clocked at 240 mph or 390 kph among the fastest animals in the world. How? A highly streamlined body, a long keel breastbone that leverages more musculature into beating power, and a unique leading curve wing geometry with the wings tucked in. All this giving this bird of prey a decisive speed advantage over their prey. And capable in killing their prey with a snap of it’s beak in midair if not disable it.
For centuries these birds were sought after by Royal houses in the sport of Falconry and often represented power and prestige making their way into heraldic and national symbols.

2016 Canada 8 Dollar Snowy Gyrfalcon

Obverse; Elizabeth II facing right

Text; ELIZABETH II, 8 DOLLARS

Edge; Reeded

Reference Ch# RC 1456

Engraver; Susan Taylor

Designer; Susanna Blunt

Canada’s 1958 Business strike Dollar

This is another lovely uncirculated coin with a great luster, strong strike, few light bag marks, and not a trace of chocolate staining because it was originally locked in a bulky Capital plastics holder before I put this into a space saving capsule. This Commemorative coin is colloquially nicknamed the 'Death Dollar' because of the Raven figure on top, but is it?

1958 Canada One Dollar British Columbia

Reverse; Northwest coast Totem pole, coastal mountains

Text; CANADA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, 1858, 1958, DOLLAR

Silver 0.800, Weight 23.3g

Diameter 36mm, Thickness 2.84mm

Engraver; Thomas Shingles

Designer; Stephen Trenka

The latest argument to debunk the persistent claims of this supposedly disliked ‘Death Dollar’, takes another turn.

…the figure with upright ears, a distinct nose, long claws, and what may be a tongue sticking out is not Raven, but more likely Bear, beneath her cub. This motif appears on many totem poles. Further, neither Bear nor Raven is associated with death; the former is a common clan-owned crest…

I wish the Numista writer would cite his or her source. Not having privy to Artist Stephen Trenka’s personal notes leaves me with little research options other than a deep dive into Totem art interpretation. For this 1958, it will be a long time before many veteran Collectors shake off the 1958's moniker of the 'Death Dollar'.

1958 Canada One Dollar British Columbia

Obverse; Elizabeth Regina II facing right.

Text; ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA

Mintage of 3,039,630

Edge; Milled

Reference KM#55

Engraver; Thomas Shingles

Designer: Mary Gillick

And our bonus feature...

1954 Silver backed Fiat Canadian Dollar

1954 $1 Bank of Canada – Queen Elizabeth II

Charleton Reference# BC-37bA

400,000 Printed by BABN

Replacement note *

Otherwise called an asterisk note, the Canadian equivalent of the Star note used with US banknote production. When a defective note is identified and culled out by the printer, a designated run of notes are set aside to be put in place of the defective note. Today the CBN and the BNAB no longer use the asterisk designation notes but reserve blocks of previous notes with a different prefix to replace defective notes.

1954 $1 Bank of Canada – Queen Elizabeth II

The Prairies, breadbasket of the Commonwealth

Thanks to @punkysdad for loaning me this banknote.

I’ll be continuing this little Canada Day series from July 1st with the old ~~Constitutional~~ Confederational? Or perhaps more accurately, Demonetized Canadian circulating silver coinage. In conclusion, I’ll be featuring the 1967 Centennial Silver set and that includes the Canada Goose.

Honk 🚚 honk!

Stacking Canadian Silver and Hive for that rainy day, are you?”

And thank you for coming aboard my post today.

The #piratesunday tag is the scurvy scheme of Captain @stokjockey for #silvergoldstackers pirates to proudly showcase their shiny booty and plunder for all to see. Landlubbers arrrh… welcomed to participate and be a Pirate at heart so open yer treasure chests an’ show us what booty yea got!☠️

References

My own pictures shot with a Samsung SM-A530W

P. Image under Pixabay

W. Wiki Commons

 Page Dividers by thekittygirl 

Sources

Wiki; Gyrfalcon
Misfit Animals; How Fast are Falcons
2016 Canada 8 Dollar Snowy Gyrfalcon 1958 Canada One Dollar British Columbia
Canadian Government Paper Money, 19th Edition 2007 RJ Graham, Charlton Press, ISSN 1716-0731, ISSN 0-88968-317-4 Pirate Hankys Background by ModHanks.com Cameo Bat Choker from The Black Wardrobe

"Ahh ains nae bluudy Financial Advisor!"