- Country:Canada
- Collection:Silver Commemorative $20
- Metal:Silver
- Year:2016
- Denomination:$20
- Finish:Complete
- Weight (oz):1.009
- Purity:0.9999
- Mintage:6961
- Product type:Coin
A solitary tree dweller, the porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) thrives in Canada's varied landscapes where it is just as comfortable huddled on a tall branch as it is scampering along rock piles and ledges. Its offspring, called a porcupette, is an adorable specimen with a little face and tiny legs-but don't let that fool you! Right from its birth, the porcupette is armed with its own armour: its famous quills, which are soft at first but harden within the first hours of life; this helps even the youngest of the species deter its enemies as it learns to live and thrive in Canada's wilderness.
A wonderful coin to start a young person's collection! Order today!
Special features:
Seventh coin in the Royal Canadian Mint's Baby Animals series that tenderly depicts young wildlife in a natural setting.
Finely-detailed engraving is complemented by the use of selective colouring to recreate theporcupette's dark-coloured coat and its pink clover feast.
Your coin is crafted from 99.99% pure silver, is GST/HST exempt, and has a limited worldwide mintage.
About the Design:
The reverse design by Canadian artist Trevor Tennant depicts a young porcupine (porcupette) in one of Canada'smany forests. Selective colour enhances the detailed engraving and brings this side-view image to life, recreating the porcupette's dense black coatintermingled with long guard hairs and white-tinged quills. While the mother in the engraved background has turned a curious eye toward the viewer, the dark-coloured porcupette seems unconcerned with our intrusion; its attention is innocently focused on the pink clover and green leaves that have sprung up from the forest floor at the foot of a tree. Gripping the wildflower in its forepaw, the porcupette brings it to its mouth to enjoy a small feast as part of the transition to its herbaceous diet.
Did you knowÃ
A single North American porcupine, it may have over 30,000 quills!
When the porcupine is at ease, the quills lie flat; once threatened, the porcupine's quills stand on end to deter would-be attackers.
Contrary to popular belief, the porcupine doesn't throw itsquills at a predator when threatened; instead, the prickly rodent uses quick, jerky movements as it lashes its tail, causing loose quills to detach.
A porcupine's quills swell after embedding themselves into a predator's skin, which makes them more painful and difficult to remove.
Just like a beaver, the porcupine uses its front teeth to gnaw on objects such as wood, bones, and even antlers.
The fisher (Martes pennanti) is the porcupine's greatest enemy; this member of the weasel family will resort to getting the porcupine flipped onto its back so that it exposes its underbelly, which is not protected by quills.
While porcupines may be slow-moving and short-sighted,they're believed to possess a good memory and can learn quickly.
