This new Canadian coin looks like a golden quarter, but it's worth much more than 25 cents.
It features an antlered elk moving through Canada's wilderness.
Recently, the Royal Canadian Mint announced that the Animal Portraits: Elk – 1 oz. Fine Silver Coin is being released in Canada.
It's one ounce of 99.99% pure silver and part of the Mint's annual Animal Portraits series.
This new non-circulation coin looks like a quarter, but it actually has a face value of $20.
Artist Trevor Tennant designed the reverse side of the coin that has a close-up view of an elk, which is also known as wapiti, standing along a river in the forest.
There is almost a three-dimensional effect with this coin because the elk is positioned in front of the river and the forest.
Also, the antlers of the elk extend beyond the framed centre of the coin to show that it's one of Canada's largest terrestrial mammals.
Each of the Animal Portraits: Elk coins is selectively plated with yellow gold, and everything but the animal is plated on the reverse.
This new coin is like a prettier version of the 25-cent coin, which features a similar side view of a caribou — another animal in the deer family.
Canada's caribou quarters were first minted in 1937 after a change in the monarch's effigy on circulation coins also led to changes for the reverse sides.
The Animal Portraits: Elk – 1 oz. Fine Silver Coin is more detailed than the quarter, with almost the entire elk included and engravings of a forest behind it.
Animal Portraits: Elk - 1 oz. Fine Slver Coin.Royal Canadian Mint
The obverse of this new coin features the effigy of King Charles III, which was designed by Canadian artist Steven Rosati.
While everything but the elk is plated with yellow gold on the reverse side, only the portrait of King Charles and the outer edge of the obverse are yellow gold plated.
Obverse of Animal Portraits: Elk coin.Royal Canadian Mint
There is a limited mintage of 7,500 of these new coins.
You won't find this Animal Portraits: Elk – 1 oz. Fine Silver Coin in your change because it's not a circulation coin.
It costs $134.95 to buy it online from the Royal Canadian Mint or at Royal Canadian Mint boutiques in Ottawa and Winnipeg.
There are two more coins in this Canadian wildlife series featuring a polar bear (which looks similar to the toonie) and a grey wolf.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.