Canada is a big, beautiful country filled with awe-inspiring sights—from imposing landscapes to rare sightings of animals that represent our untamed spirit. The Imposing Icons series celebrates Canada’s rugged beauty by inviting you to get up close and personal with our wild animal icons. Splendidly engraved as a backdrop, the spaces they inhabit are every bit as captivating as our picture-perfect portrait of each species.

In Canada, the white-tailed deer is the most common and widely distributed large mammal. If you spot one, it is likely grazing in woodland edges and pastures. However, the deer startles easily; at the first sign of trouble, it raises the alarm by flagging its brown tail to reveal a white underside (hence its name) as it gallops out of sight. Coin #3 of our Imposing Icons series invites you to look deep into the eyes of the white-tailed deer. This close encounter with such a large prey species is made possible by the coin’s large (50 mm) diameter, which provides ample room for both the engraved wilderness and colourful wildlife.

Designed by artist Maurade Baynton, the reverse features a selectively coloured, close-up view of the white-tailed deer. The finely engraved backdrop showcases the forest, one of the deer’s many habitats in Canada. The obverse features the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt.