1 oz Grizzly Bear Silver Coin

The RCM's Discontinued Wildlife Classic

The 1 oz Canadian Grizzly Bear is a .9999 fine silver bullion coin struck by the Royal Canadian Mint, released in 2011 as the second coin in the six-coin Canadian Wildlife Series. With a fixed mintage of 1,000,000 coins and production long since ended, it trades exclusively on the secondary market. The series ran from 2011 to 2013 and was the RCM's first dedicated silver bullion programme outside the flagship Silver Maple Leaf.

The four-nines purity (.9999) was a significant detail at the time of release. In 2011, most silver bullion coins, including the American Silver Eagle and the Britannia, were struck at .999. The Maple Leaf had already established .9999 as the RCM's standard, and the Wildlife Series maintained that benchmark. This remains a selling point today: very few silver bullion coins from any mint achieve .9999 fineness.

The Grizzly Bear reverse, designed by William Woodruff (Senior Engraver at the RCM), depicts a lone grizzly unleashing a roar beside a stream, with the Canadian Rockies rising in the background. It captures a natural behaviour: grizzlies are commonly observed fishing for salmon in the rivers of western Canada. The obverse carries the Susanna Blunt portrait of Queen Elizabeth II used on Canadian coinage from 2003 to 2023.

As a discontinued series with a 1,000,000 mintage cap, the Grizzly Bear occupies a middle ground between mass-market bullion and scarce collectibles. Well-preserved examples in original tubes or capsules may command slight premiums over loose coins, and the coin trades above the price of generic silver rounds due to the RCM brand, the .9999 purity, and the series' collector following. Spotted or toned examples (see the milk spotting note under Specifications) are sometimes available at a discount, making them attractive for buyers focused purely on silver weight.

Grizzly Bear Coin Specifications and Wildlife Series Lineup

The complete Canadian Wildlife Series comprised six coins, each with an identical 1,000,000 mintage:

One known issue with the Wildlife Series is "milk spotting," a cosmetic defect appearing as white patches on the silver surface. This is caused by residual cleaning agents from the minting process and is a documented characteristic of mass-produced .9999 silver coins from the RCM during this period. The spots do not affect silver content or melt value, but they can reduce collector premiums for affected coins. The RCM introduced improved anti-tarnish technology on later products (including MintShield on Maple Leaf coins from 2018), but the 2011 Grizzly Bear predates these improvements.

The coin should not be confused with the 2017 RCM 1.5 oz Silver Grizzly Bear, which is a separate product with an $8 CAD face value from a different bullion programme. Despite sharing the same animal subject, the two have different weights, designs, and series affiliations.

Tax Treatment of the Canadian Grizzly Bear Silver Coin

The Grizzly Bear is legal tender in Canada with a $5 CAD face value, backed by the Canadian government. Its .9999 purity exceeds every major jurisdiction's threshold for investment-grade silver, simplifying its tax classification internationally.

• Canada: GST/HST exempt as investment-grade precious metal bullion. The coin's legal tender status and purity well above the 99.9% threshold ensure this classification. Capital gains are subject to the 50% inclusion rate (50% of the gain is added to taxable income). Under the Listed Personal Property rule, coins both purchased and sold for under $1,000 CAD each incur no reportable capital gain.
• United States: No federal sales tax. Roughly 35 states exempt bullion silver from sales tax. The .9999 purity comfortably exceeds the IRS 99.9% fineness threshold for self-directed precious metals IRAs. Capital gains on bullion are taxed at the 28% collectibles rate for long-term holdings.
• United Kingdom: Subject to 20% VAT on purchase. Silver bullion does not receive the gold-style VAT exemption in the UK. The coin is not CGT-exempt because CGT exemption is reserved for UK legal tender (such as the 1 oz Silver Britannia). Standard CGT rates of 18-24% apply, with the £3,000 annual exemption.
• Australia: GST-free as investment-grade silver. The .9999 purity exceeds Australia's 99.9% threshold for precious metal GST exemption. Capital gains subject to CGT with a 50% discount for holdings over 12 months.
• New Zealand: GST-exempt for fine silver at 99.9% purity or above. No formal capital gains tax, though the IRD may treat profits as income if bullion was acquired for the purpose of resale.
• Singapore: Qualifies for GST exemption under the IPM scheme at 99.9% purity. No capital gains tax.
• Hong Kong: No sales tax, no import duty, no capital gains tax.

Grizzly Bear vs Maple Leaf, American Eagle, and Kookaburra

The most natural comparison for the Grizzly Bear is the RCM's own Silver Maple Leaf, since both share the same mint, the same .9999 purity, and the same $5 CAD face value. The Maple Leaf has unlimited mintage, vastly greater liquidity, and tighter bid-ask spreads on the secondary market. It also gained MintShield anti-tarnish and Bullion DNA anti-counterfeiting technology from 2014 and 2018 respectively, features the 2011 Grizzly Bear lacks. The Grizzly Bear's advantage is its fixed 1,000,000 mintage and collector appeal as a discontinued series piece. Buyers focused on minimum cost per ounce of .9999 silver should prefer the Maple Leaf; those who value a distinctive design and finite supply will find the Grizzly Bear more interesting.

Against the 1 oz American Silver Eagle, the Grizzly Bear offers one additional nine of purity (.9999 vs .999). The Eagle has a single unchanging design and vastly higher mintages (often exceeding 30 million per year), making it the most liquid silver bullion coin in the world. The Eagle consistently commands the highest premiums among standard government silver coins, driven by collector demand and US Mint pricing. For US-based IRA holdings, both coins qualify, but the Eagle is more widely recognised by custodians.

The Perth Mint's Silver Kookaburra and Koala series offer a similar proposition to the Wildlife Series: limited-mintage annual-design silver coins featuring national wildlife. The Kookaburra is struck at .999 purity (lower than the Grizzly Bear's .9999) with per-year mintage caps that are often tighter than 1,000,000. Both the Wildlife Series and the Perth Mint animal coins appeal to collectors who want bullion with a story, but the RCM's purity advantage is a tangible differentiator.

Within the Wildlife Series itself, the Grizzly Bear trades at premiums comparable to the Timber Wolf, Cougar, and Moose. All six coins share identical specifications and mintage. The choice between them is purely aesthetic, though the Grizzly Bear and Timber Wolf (both 2011) have had a year longer on the secondary market than the later issues.