# 1511 - Canadian Wildlife - Part 74

The info below comes from the Royal Canadian Mint's COA (Certificate of Authenticity) of this coin or from the book Canadian Collector Coins, vol 2, 8th Edition, by M. Drake or https://en.numista.com/ , or https://www.wikipedia.org/.

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 seventy fourth coin is a 2013 CAD $10 "Caribou".

This coin weights 15.87g with 99.99% silver purity and Matte Proof finish. Its mintage was 33,522 units.

For Canadians, the caribou (Rangifer tarandus) embodies the tale of this nation's ageless landscape. In the caribou, you see a vast migratory journey through space and time. You relate to its resilience, its ability, across the massive span of millennia and kilometres, to nourish itself and thrive in harsh, remote conditions. The caribou teaches you the lessons of survival in this land: the benefits of slow, steady progress borne of tireless effort; the safety of the herd against predators large and small; and your intrinsic interconnection with the world you inhabit.

It is no surprise that this unique animal is a Canadian icon, celebrated since 1937 on Canada's 25-cent circulation coin, official animal of Newfoundland and Labrador, and shield-bearer of the Nunavut coat of arms.

The reverse was designed by Pierre Leduc and engraved by Stan Witten. It presents a male caribou set against the rugged terrain of the Canadian North. The caribou faces you, his large rack of antlers, stocky body, and long legs viewed from the front. The caribou peers at you with his right eye, his powerful neck turned to his left. Below and behind him are the snow-covered rocky ground and characteristic pines of Canada's northern boreal forest. In the distance, mountains stretch out along the horizon.