Item: i113655

Authentic Coin of:

Canada under Elizabeth II – Queen: 6 February 1952–present
1956 Silver 25 Cents 23.8mm (5.65 grams) 0.800 Silver (0.149 oz. ASW)
Reference: KM# 52 
(1953-64) | Obverse Designer: Mary Gilick | Reverse Designer: Emanuel Hahn
ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA, Laureate bust of Elizabeth II right.
1964 ◦ CANADA ◦ 25 cents, Forepart of Caribou standing left.

You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.

A Caribou (North America) (Rangifer tarandus caribou, and other trinomials under Rangifer t.) is any of several North American subspecies, ecotypes, populations, and herds of the species Rangifer tarandus. In North America caribou vary in size from the smallest, the Peary caribou, to the largest, the boreal woodland caribou. The North American range of caribou extends from Alaska, through the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, into the boreal forest and south through the Canadian Rockies and the Columbia and Selkirk Mountains. Barren-ground, porcupine caribou and Peary caribou live in the tundra, while the shy woodland caribou, prefers the boreal forest. Two major subspecies in North America, the porcupine caribou and the barren-ground caribou form large herds and undertake lengthy seasonal migrations from birthing grounds, to summer and winter feeding grounds in the tundra and taiga. The migrations of porcupine caribou herds are among the longest of any terrestrial mammal. Barren-land caribou are also found in Kitaa in Greenland, but the larger herds are in Alaska, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.

The circumpolar species itself, Rangifer tarandus, at a global level, is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (ICUN) “as Least Concern due to a wide circumpolar distribution and presumed large populations.” The populations of subspecies, ecotypes, populations and herds of caribou in North America are in decline and one subspecies, the iconic boreal woodland caribou, has been listed by COSEWIC as threatened since 2002.

The George River caribou herd (GRCH), in the Ungava Peninsula of Quebec and Labrador in eastern Canada was once the world’s largest herd with 800,000-900,000 animals. By 2012 the herd numbered 27,600 and declined to 14,200 animals in 2014.

The meta-population of the more-sedentary subspecies R. t. caribou, or woodland caribou, spans the boreal forest of Canada from the Northwest Territories to Labrador. They are shy animals whose main food source is arboreal lichens of the mature forests and mainly live in marshes, bogs, lakes, and river regions. Since it takes hundreds of years for a biomass of tree lichen to be adequate to sustain boreal woodland caribou populations, deforestation has been a major factor in the decline of their numbers. The historic range of the boreal woodland caribou covered over half of present-day Canada, stretching from Alaska to Newfoundland and Labrador and as far south as New England, Idaho, and Washington. The smallest subspecies in North America, the Peary caribou is found in the High and Low Arctic, in the Northwest Territories (particularly, Banks Island) and in Nunavut (mainly Baffin Island).

The caribou is a specialist that is well adapted to cooler climates, with hollow-hair fur that covers almost all of its body including its nose, and provides insulation in winter and flotation for swimming. Caribou can reach a speed of 60-80 km/h (37-50 mph). Young caribou can already outrun an Olympic sprinter when only a day old. The caribou’s favourite winter food is fruticose deer lichen. Seventy percent of the diet of woodland caribou consists of arboreal lichen which take hundreds of years to grow and are therefore only found in mature forests.

Although there are many variations in colour and size, Canadian Geographic magazine states that in general, barren-ground caribou have larger antlers than the woodland caribou subspecies. Barren-ground caribou have large distinguishing white patches of fur that extend beyond the neck onto the back, a white muzzle and a face that is darker than the rest of the body. Their fur is sandy-beige in winter and light brown in summer. The woodland caribou have a wider more compact body and wider antlers. The coat is a rich dark brown in summer and dark grey in winter. Both the barren-ground and woodland caribou often have white “socks” above their hooves. On average the male weighs 90-110 kg (200-240 lb) and measures 0.9-1.7 m (3.0-5.6 ft) in shoulder height. The woodland caribou are the largest, and the Peary caribou are the smallest. The largest Alaskan male Porcupine caribou can weigh as much as 310 kilograms (680 lb).

Female caribou can live up to 17 years, and male caribou live about 13 years.

Both sexes grow antlers, though in some woodland caribou populations, the females lack antlers completely. Antlers are larger in males.

Caribou are an integral part of First Nations and Inuit oral histories and legends including the Gwich’in creation story of how Gwich’in people and the caribou separated from a single entity.

Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born 21 April 1926^[a]) is, and has been since her accession in 1952, Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and Head of the Commonwealth. She is also Queen of 12 countries that have become independent since her accession: Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis.^[b]

Elizabeth was born in London to the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and was the elder of their two daughters. She was educated privately at home. Her father acceded to the throne on the abdication of his brother Edward VIII in 1936, from which time she was the heir presumptive. She began to undertake public duties during World War II, serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. In 1947, she married Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, with whom she has four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward.

Elizabeth’s many historic visits and meetings include a state visit to the Republic of Ireland and reciprocal visits to and from the Pope. She has seen major constitutional changes, such as devolution in the United Kingdom, Canadian patriation, and the decolonisation of Africa. She has also reigned through various wars and conflicts involving many of her realms. She is the world’s oldest reigning monarch as well as Britain’s longest-lived. In 2015, she surpassed the reign of her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, to become the longest-reigning British monarch and the longest-reigning queen regnant in world history.

Times of personal significance have included the births and marriages of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, her coronation in 1964, and the celebration of milestones such as her Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees in 1977, 2002, and 2012, respectively. Moments of sadness for her include the death of her father, aged 56; the assassination of Prince Philip’s uncle, Lord Mountbatten; the breakdown of her children’s marriages in 1992 (her annus horribilis); the death in 1997 of her son’s former wife, Diana, Princess of Wales; and the deaths of her mother and sister in 2002. Elizabeth has occasionally faced republican sentiments and severe press criticism of the royal family, but support for the monarchy and her personal popularity remain high.

Canada is a country, consisting of ten provinces and three territories, in the northern part of the continent of North America. It extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres (3.85 million square miles) in total, making it the world’s second-largest country by total area and the fourth-largest country by land area. Canada’s common border with the United States forms the world’s longest land border. Canada is sparsely populated overall, the majority of its land territory being dominated by forest and tundra as well as the mountain range of the Rocky Mountains; about four-fifths of the population live near to the southern border. The majority of Canada has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer.

The land now called Canada has been inhabited for millennia by various Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French colonies were established on the region’s Atlantic coast. As a consequence of various conflicts, the United Kingdom gained and lost North American territories until left, in the late 18th century, with what mostly comprises Canada today. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1, 1867, three colonies joined to form the autonomous federal Dominion of Canada. This began an accretion of provinces and territories to the new self-governing Dominion. In 1931, Britain granted Canada near total independence with the Statute of Westminster 1931 and full sovereignty was attained when the Canada Act 1982 severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.

Canada is a federal parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, Queen Elizabeth II being the current head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level. It is one of the world’s most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries, with a population of approximately 35 million as of 2015. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade networks. Canada’s long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture.

Canada is a developed country and one of the wealthiest in the world, with the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally, and the eighth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, and education. Canada is a Commonwealth Realm member of the Commonwealth of Nations, a member of the Francophonie, and part of several major international and intergovernmental institutions or groupings including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the G8, the Group of Ten, the G20, the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.