We will continue the series called "Canadian Wildlife".

The Royal Canadian Mint is known by its high quality work and the enormous number of commemorative coins issued each year. Among these commemoratives we find many, individual or in series, under the theme "wildlife".

Canada, with its vast lands and seas, is the home of a varied fauna and that will be showed in this series.

I will try to post land animals, sea animals and birds, in that order.

The seventeenth is a 1998 CAD $0.5 "The Blue Whale".

In 1995 the Royal Canadian Mint decided to create the "Discovering Nature" series. It would last six years, with four $.50 coins minted each year. It would be the first sterling silver (92.5%) fifty cents to be issued since 1919.

The 1998 set was called "Canada's Ocean Giants", showing the grace and beauty of the whales that are seen off Canadian coasts.

Each coin weights 9.3g with frosted relief on a brilliant background. The mintage was 33,327 units each. The issue price was CAD $19.95 each.

The reverse shows the "Blue Whale" (Balaenoptera musculus). The largest creature on Earth, the blue whale can achieve lengths of up to 30 meters and weights of around 160 tons. A mottled grayish blue in colour with pale inner sides to its flippers, a population of around 300 come to the Gulf of St. Lawrence to feed every summer.

The reverse was designed by Canadian artist Stan Witten.

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