This year, the aureate dollar features a Common Loon swimming on a calm Canadian lake. Her two young chicks accompany her: one swimming just behind its mother and the other riding on mother’s back—a trait of this captivating aquatic species. The mother, in her brightly spotted summer plumage, diligently protects her offspring, scanning the lake for fish and listening for the call of her mate.

In 2012, the Royal Canadian Mint celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Loonie—the iconic Canadian one-dollar coin bearing the image of this great Canadian icon. Like its namesake, the Loonie has proven resilient, emblematic, and long-lived. This specimen set commemorates two important cultural symbols—the loon and the Loonie—by showcasing their beauty and individuality in a perennial collector’s favourite.