# 1491 - Canadian Wildlife - Part 54

Today we will continue the series called "Canadian Wildlife".

The Royal Canadian Mint is known by its high quality work and the enormous number of commemorative coins issued each year. Among these commemoratives we find many, individual or in series, under the theme "wildlife".

Canada, with its vast lands and seas, is the home of a varied fauna and that will be showed in this series.

I will try to post land animals, sea animals and birds, in that order.

The fifty fourth coin is a 2015 CAD $20 "Bighorn Sheep".

This coin weights 31.39g (1.01oz) with 99.99% silver purity and Colored Proof finish. Its mintage was 6,499 units and the issue price was CAD $99.95.

With its distinctively curved horns, the bighorn sheep is one of the most widely-recognised species to inhabit the alpine meadows and elevated terrain of Canada's Rocky Mountains. Its agility is remarkable and well-suited to its surroundings, where it bounds up the rocky slopes to reach seemingly inaccessible ledges with ease.

Designed by Canadian artist Maurade Baynton, the reverse recreates the awe-inspiring landscape of Canada's Rocky Mountains, which fills the background in this portrait of a bighorn sheep. Leaning on its front legs, the bighorn is poised on a rocky slope with its head turned slightly to the left, as though something on the horizon has captured the animal's attention. The use of color combined with expert engraving showcase the bighorn's majestic features, which seem perfectly suited to the mighty peaks that tower above the pristine wilderness in the background.