This new Canadian coin looks like a golden nickel but it's worth much more than five cents

It features a family of beavers! 🇨🇦

canadian coins in a bowl

Canadian coins.

Senior Writer

There's a new Canadian coin that looks like a golden nickel.

But it's actually worth so much more than five cents.

Recently, the Royal Canadian Mint put out The Beaver – Fine Silver Coin to honour the animal that has been an official emblem of Canada since 1975.

It looks like a nickel because both coins feature beavers, but it's worth more than five cents as it has a face value of $50.

This new coin features a unique two-sided design that offers different perspectives of the same scene: a family of beavers making a lodge in the water.

According to the Mint, the coin is the water's surface, with one side having a view from above the water, and the other a view from below.

The reverse side shows one of the kits swimming with its mother, who puts another branch onto the pile, as the father dives into the water from atop the lodge.

On both sides of the coin, the beavers are plated with yellow gold.

It's meant to symbolize autumn sunshine and the earthy tones of the beaver's fur and surroundings.

The rest of the coin is silver to represent the mirror-like reflective surface of lakes and ponds on a sunny day.

You get a three-dimensional view of the beaver family because they're engraved in Extraordinarily High Relief.

Even though this isn't the first-ever Extraordinarily High Relief engraving on a Canadian coin, this is the highest engraving the Mint has done.

the beaver fine silver coin The Beaver — Fine Silver Coin.Royal Canadian Mint

The obverse not only features an underwater view of the beavers but also an effigy of King Charles III designed by Steven Rosati.

Usually, the obverse side of a Canadian coin only has a portrait of the reigning monarch.

But with this new coin, the portrait of King Charles is just a small medallion below the beavers.

obverse side of the beaver fine silver coin Obverse of The Beaver — Fine Silver coin.Royal Canadian Mint

There is a limited mintage of just 2,750 coins.

Since this isn't a circulation coin, you won't be able to find it in your change.

It costs $479.95 to buy online and at the Royal Canadian Mint boutiques in Ottawa and Winnipeg.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.

  • Senior Writer

    Lisa Belmonte (she/her) is a Senior Writer with Narcity Media. After graduating with a Bachelor of Journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), she joined the Narcity team. Lisa covers news and notices from across the country from a Canada-wide perspective. Her early coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic earned Narcity its first-ever national journalism award nomination.

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