This 2011 proof silver dollar coin is a masterpiece of frosted details, executed with artistry and skill. It’s an inspiring keepsake that’s rich in tradition as the latest issue in the Mint’s most enduring coin series. Perfect for nature lovers! Mintage is 40,000.

The Design:

Designed by Luc Normandin, this coin highlights Parks Canada’s role to conserve Canada’s flora and fauna. Four endangered ecological treasures are cradled in the hands of a young Canadian: a Whooping Crane (Grus americana), the Southern Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum capillus-veneris), a Western Fringed Prairie Orchid (Platanthera praeclara) and a Kentucky Coffee Tree (Gymnocladus dioicus).

Parks Canada:

Although green thinking is familiar to us today, at the dawn of the twentieth century people saw the economic good sense of managing resources for efficiency and profit. Increasingly, though, this pragmatic conservationism was bolstered by the growing conviction that the government had a responsibility to conserve wilderness for Canadians, and that citizens should be free to visit, explore, and enjoy Canada’s unrivalled wild landscapes. The Dominion Parks Branch—known today as Parks Canada—was founded in 1911, and mandated to conserve Canada’s unrivalled wilderness for Canadians to explore, and enjoy. Parks Canada is the world’s first system of national parks. From these seeds of sustainable thinking, Canada has—through the innovation of Parks Canada—nurtured a legacy of conservation that has blossomed to include 300,000 square kilometres of protected land and places of outstanding cultural and natural importance to the common heritage of humanity.

For a century, Parks Canada has remained the dedicated steward and steadfast guardian of Canada’s vast stores of magnificent natural treasures, maintaining them for the pleasure not only of Canadians, but of the world, and of generations yet to come.