Item: i99286
 
Authentic Coin of:

Canada under Elizabeth II – Queen: 6 February 1952–present 
Birds of Canada Series
1995 Proof Silver 50 Cents 27mm (9.75 grams) 0.925 Silver (0.2778 oz. ASW)
Reference: KM# 262 | Engraver: Dora de Pédery-Hunt, Stan Witten
ELIZABETH II D G REGINA, Queen Elizabeth II facing right.
Grus americana CANADA 50 CENTS 1995, American Crane.

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

Named for its whooping sound, the whooping crane (Grus americana), is the tallest North American bird. It is an endangered crane species. Along with the sandhill crane (Antigone canadensis), it is one of only two crane species native to North America. The whooping crane’s lifespan is estimated to be 22 to 24 years in the wild. After being pushed to the brink of extinction by unregulated hunting and loss of habitat to just 21 wild and two captive whooping cranes by 1941, conservation efforts have led to a limited recovery. The total number of cranes in the surviving migratory population, plus three reintroduced flocks and in captivity, now exceeds 800 birds.

On average, the whooping crane is the fifth largest extant species of crane in the world. Whooping cranes are the tallest bird native to North America, and are anywhere from the third to the fifth heaviest species on the continent, depending on which figures are used. The species can reportedly stand anywhere from 1.24 to 1.6 m (4 ft 1 in to 5 ft 3 in) in height. Wingspan, at least typically, is from 2 to 2.3 m (6 ft 7 in to 7 ft 7 in). Widely reported averages put males at a mean mass of 7.3 kg (16 lb), while females weigh 6.2 kg (14 lb) on average (Erickson, 1976). However, one small sample of unsexed whooping cranes weighed 5.82 kg (12.8 lb) on average. Typical weights of adults seem to be between 4.5 and 8.5 kg (9.9 and 18.7 lb). The body length, from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail, averages about 132 cm (4 ft 4 in). The standard linear measurements of the whooping cranes are a wing chord length of 53–63 cm (21–25 in), an exposed culmen length of 11.7–16 cm (4.6–6.3 in) and a tarsus of 26–31 cm (10–12 in). The only other very large, long-legged white birds in North America are: the great egret, which is over a foot (30 cm) shorter and one-seventh the weight of this crane; the great white heron, which is a morph of the great blue heron in Florida; and the wood stork. All three other birds are at least 30% smaller than the whooping crane. Herons and storks are also quite different in structure from the crane. Larger individuals (especially males of the larger races) of sandhill crane can overlap in size with adult whooping cranes but are obviously distinct at once for their gray rather than white color.

Their calls are loud and can carry several kilometers. They express “guard calls”, apparently to warn their partner about any potential danger. The crane pair will jointly call rhythmically (“unison call”) after waking in the early morning, after courtship and when defending their territory. The first unison call ever recorded in the wild was taken in the whooping cranes’ wintering area of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge during December 1999.

Elizabeth  II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born 21 April 1926)  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 1953 , 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 t hree  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.