Canada 25 Cent Gold Coin 2016 Arctic Fox
Predator vs. Prey Series
Obverse: Susanna Blunt’s design of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Reverse: Designed by Canadian artist Pierre Leduc, your coin features a side-profile view of an Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus), depicted here in the style of a traditional wildlife portrait. Meticulous engraving recreates the fox's features with extraordinary precision on such a small canvas, giving it a life-like quality that beautifully captures the texture of its thick, winter coat. Standing still in the wintry landscape, the fox's small, rounded ears are alert as it quietly steadies its gaze on its prey beyond the image field.
Mintage: 6500.
Composition: 99.99% pure gold.
Finish: proof.
Weight: 0.5 g.
Diameter: 11 mm.
Edge: serrated.
Face value: 25 Cents.
Artist: Pierre Leduc (reverse), Susanna Blunt (obverse).
Manufacturer: Royal Canadian Mint.
The Arctic fox is scarcely larger than a housecat, but it is a swift and prolific hunter in Canada's North. This scavenger may eat fish, berries and vegetation where available in the summer, but its keen hearing and sense of smell also allows it to skilfully seek out eggs, birds, carrion and young hares, as well as the lemmings that represent a large portion of its diet. To nourish its large brood, the fox will hunt extensively under the midnight sun, stalking and digging out its prey or else dashing and pouncing upon it in the open. When food is in abundance, the fox will cache food for later use; during leaner winter months, it may opt to follow the region's apex predator, the polar bear, in order to feast on the leftovers from its kill. Ultimately, the fox owes much of its survival to its beautiful fur that changes with the seasons: in the summer, a short and thin brownish coat allows it to blend in with the landscape; in the winter, its thick, snow-white fur insulates most of its body from the icy Arctic temperatures as it hunts over land and sea ice.
