$20 Owl Fine Silver Coin and Stamp Set

This 2015 $20 fine silver coin features a heartwarming design of an adult burrowing owl standing next to its owlet while holding a tasty offering of a grasshopper in its beak. Selective colour beautifully showcases the burrowing owl's brown-and-white speckled plumage and highlights the key difference between an adult and its young: chicks have a solid, buff-coloured chest whereas an adult's chest is barred. The tall grass highlights the burrowing owl's prairie habitat and one can perhaps detect the shadowy entrance to a burrow behind the adorable pair. Mintage is limited to just 7,500 coins. The coin is struck in .9999 fine silver and weighs just over one ounce, and comes presented in a premium limited-edition book-format presentation case including matching Canada Post first-day-issue stamps.

Young burrowing owls are particularly endearing for their extra-long legs that stick out from beneath their bodies like stilts. It's an adaptation for living on the grasslands; with few trees to perch on, burrowing owls have evolved to sprint along the ground to capture prey. And without trees for nesting, they have adapted by living underground in abandoned badger, gopher or prairie dog homes. The chicks stay in the den for the first two weeks, but will soon emerge to explore their world and develop their hunting skills.

• Mintage: 7,500
• Diameter: 38 mm
• Weight: 1 oz fine silver
• GST/HST exempt

Includes:
• $20 Fine Silver Owl Coin and Stamp Set