The year 2017 marks the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation. To honour this historic occasion, the Royal Canadian Mint's 2017 specimen set pays tribute to a Canadian icon with a one-dollar coin featuring the beloved snow goose in a dramatic pose, preparing to land on a quiet northern lake.

A fine collectible for birdwatchers and an affordable way to inspire a budding collector! Order your 6-coin specimen set today!

• INCLUDES CLASSIC COIN DESIGNS! Yours is a limited opportunity to collect theseclassic designs (polar bear, Canada's Coat of Arms, caribou, Bluenose, beaver) issued in 2017, since the Royal Canadian Mint will not be placing them into circulation.
• CELEBRATE CANADA! Celebrate the 150th anniversary of Confederation with this gorgeous Canadian 6-coin set!
• ONLY AVAILABLE IN THIS SET! As with all Canadian "loonies," your snow goose coin—only found in this set—features an 11-sided shape and raised edging.
• SERIALIZED CERTIFICATE! The set comes in book-style packaging with a serialized certificate and a removable lens, which allows collectors to enjoy and proudly showcase the set.
• UNIQUE COIN FINISH! The finish on your coins combines brilliant and frosted relief over a lined background. No other mint in the world offers coins withthis kind of finish.

The one-dollar coin in your 2017 specimen set features a snow goose in flight. The dramatic image, designed by Canadian artist Derek C. Wicks, presents the goose from above with its wings flapped forward as it prepares to land on a lake below. The engravers' expert technique brings to life every detail of the stunning outspread wings, large-billed face, and strong body. The wings seem to encircle an outcropping of snow-capped evergreens on the shore below. As with all Canadian "loonies," this exceptionally well-designed image is framedby the loonie's characteristic 11-sided circumference.

• Chen caerulescens—the snow goose—is one of the most common waterfowl species in North America. A large bird—about 69 to 83 centimetres, head to tail, with a wingspan of about 138 centimetres—the snow goose is primarily white, with a striking band of black feathers at the tips ofits wings. It has a pink bill that is lined with black lip-like markings. A genetic variant (or morph) of the snow goose, known as the "blue goose," has a brown body with blue-tipped wings and a white head and underbelly.
• Snow geese are migratory, travelling in flocks that can sometimes number in the hundreds of thousands. They breed in nesting colonies on the tundra of the Canadian Arctic in western, central, and eastern populations. Their preferred breeding habitat is not far from ocean coastline near shallow bodies of water like streams, ponds, or marshes where they can easily find grasses, sedges, and forbs to eat.
• The snow goose nests on the ground, withthe female selecting a site that is likely to staydry during the spring melt. Here, she will dig outa small divot which she then lines with grasses, twigs, leaves, and lots of down from her breast. The finished nest may be up to two metres in diameter. Once she has laid her clutch of between two and six eggs, she stays on her nest for about 21 hours eachday, with her lifelong mate keeping an eye out forpredators.
• The migratory period in the autumn and spring, along with overwintering in various locations across the United States, brings an entirely different pace to the snow goose's life. Snow geese can make continuous flights of up to 1,000 kilometres and fly at speeds of up to 95 kilometres per hour, though they average about 55 kilometres per hour.
• One of the reasons for the goose's proliferation is access to increased food supplies (corn and grain) in agricultural lands during migration and the winter. Snow geese will noisily descend in the thousands on farm fields along their flyway. Theyalso prefer wetlands, lakes, and marshes along their migratory paths. They winter in open areas, preferring to be slightly inland but often not far from the east and west coasts of the United States.
• When they are moulting and cannot fly, snow geese are excellent runners who can outrun many predators. Shortlyafter they hatch, goslings are "precocious," which means that they walk for the first few weeks of their lives, typically from the first day.
• Snow geese flocks will assign lookouts to watch for thebirds' many predators, which include various species of gulls, owls, jaegers, eagles, ravens, foxes, bears, and wolves.

Your specimen set comes in elegant book-style packaging, with removable lens, that complements your beautiful coins.

Order your specimen set today!