Canada 100 Dollars Gold Coin 1988 Bowhead Whale
This $100 Gold coin celebrates one of Canada's national treasures, the bowhead whale, and was issued to bring attention to the protected species.Obverse: Right facing portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II designed by Arnold Machin
Reverse: Portrays a bowhead whale and her calf.
Year: 1988.
Grade: Proof.
Denomination: 100 Canadian Dollars.
Metal Content: 0.25 troy oz.
Purity: .583.
Thickness: 2.2 mm.
Diameter: 27 mm.
Mintage of only 53000.
Manufacturer: Royal Canadian Mint.
Bowhead whale
The bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) is a species of the family Balaenidae, in suborder Mysticeti, and genus Balaena, once thought to include the right whale.
A stocky dark-colored whale without a dorsal fin, it can grow 14 to 18 m (46 to 59 ft) in length. This thick-bodied species can weigh from 75 to 100 tonnes (74 to 98 long tons; 83 to 110 short tons). They live entirely in fertile Arctic and sub-Arctic waters, unlike other whales that migrate to low latitude waters to feed or reproduce. The bowhead was also known as the Greenland right whale or Arctic whale. American whalemen called them the steeple-top, polar whale, or Russia or Russian whale. The bowhead has the largest mouth of any animal.
The bowhead was an early whaling target. The population was severely reduced before a 1966 moratorium was passed to protect the species. Through conservation efforts, the bowhead population has since recovered and is now rated "Least Concern" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.