Each coin contains 1/3 Troy oz of .9999 pure gold in BU condition. The grizzly bear is a common fixture on Canadian coin programs, but this particular product boasts something unique even with its distinctive grizzly bear. This 2017 coin marks the first-ever issue of a 1/3 oz gold coin from the Royal Canadian Mint. Identification of the grizzly bear from a scientific standpoint can be difficult. The bears are technically known within scientific circles strictly as North American brown bears. Grizzlies are a subspecies of the brown bear known for their impressive size and ferocious disposition when encountered in the wild.
There are actually several subspecies of the grizzly bear in North America, with two of those recently extinct. The mainland grizzly is the one most commonly encountered by humans, but there are also Kodiak bears, peninsular grizzlies, and the now extinct California and Mexican grizzlies.
On the reverse side of these 2017 1/3 oz Canadian Gold Grizzly Bear Coins is the image of one of the massive predators standing at the edge of a rocky cliff as it unleashes a roar that will send a chill up your spine should you hear it in the middle of the woods. There is no background design element behind the bear on these gold coins for sale, allowing your eye to focus entirely on the powerful beast.
The obverse of 2017 1/3 oz Gold Grizzly Bear coins features the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II. Her Majesty is depicted here in right-profile relief in a design created in 2003 by Susanna Blunt. This design is the first to capture Queen Elizabeth II without a crown and the first of a British monarch on Canadian coins without a crown since the 1930s.