Canadian Silver Cougar Coins
The noun ‘cougar’ has taken on a strange meaning in the last few years, and television screens are awash with stories of them. It’s in vogue to be a 40 something female that hunts out younger men for pleasures of the flesh. Think of Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, Madonna and dancer Brahim Zaibat, or Kylie Minogue and Andres Velencoso. At the very end of the scale, Joan Collins, 78, will be found with husband Percy Gibson, 46. At the beginning comes someone like Delta Goodrem who is dating Nick Jonas. He’s only 18, but she is 26: a little young to be a fully-fledged cougar, more a cougar in training. Apparently, these are called cheetas!
Before the name cougar was stolen to be used in a more urban way, it was – and still is – the name given to a large predatory cat living in the wilds of the American continent. Similar to a lion in looks (but not the one with the main), the cougar hunts anything from insects and rodents to the more substantial sheep or deer. It stalks and ambushes its prey, before sinking its razor sharp teeth into its impending meal. The cougar is a solitary big cat, and very territorial.
Ah, it becomes clear why the name is now used in a totally different context!
The cougar (the big cat version) thrives in the wild open spaces of Canada, and it is for this reason that the Royal Canadian Mint has chosen it as the third in its series of six Canadian Wildlife Bullion Coins.
The 2012 Cougar Silver Coin follows the 2011 Wolf and 2011 Grizzly Silver Coins, and will be available from the Mint’s network of bullion dealers from early September. Like its predecessors, there will be a maximum mintage of 1 million coins, each being struck in 1 ounce of .9999 fine silver, and 38 mm in diameter.
The reverse has a picture of a cougar standing tall on a fallen branch, bearing its teeth and reminding the viewer of its potential deadliness. It’s a beautiful, enduring image that has been designed by the Canadian Mint’s senior engraver, William Woodruff. His initials appear beside his work on the face of the coin.
The obverse of the coin, which will have a face value of CAD$5, features Susanna Blunt’s effigy of Queen Elizabeth II.
The release of the coin was announced at the American Numismatic Association’s World Fair of Money in Chicago, and it will be priced at the same market rate as the Canadian Maple Leaf.
