White Falcon Silver

Royal Canadian Mint's Arctic Gyrfalcon Bullion

The White Falcon is a single-year bullion release from the Royal Canadian Mint, issued in 2016 and featuring the gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus), the largest of all true falcon species and a native of the Canadian Arctic. Available in 1.5 oz silver and 1/4 oz gold, both struck in .9999 fine purity, the coins carry Canadian legal tender status with face values of $8 CAD and $10 CAD respectively.

The 1.5 oz silver format is distinctive to the Royal Canadian Mint. Introduced with their wildlife-themed bullion coins from 2011, this weight provides 50% more silver than a standard 1 oz coin, offering a middle ground between the standard ounce and larger formats. The per-ounce premium can be slightly lower than on 1 oz coins, though the higher total outlay narrows the buyer pool compared to standard single-ounce products.

The coin is also marketed under the names "Snow Falcon" and "Snowy Falcon" by some dealers, though the RCM's official product name is "White Falcon." All three names refer to the same coin. The gyrfalcon itself has deep cultural significance: it is the official bird of Canada's Northwest Territories, and white-morph gyrfalcons have been prized in falconry for centuries. Medieval Icelandic law restricted their export to royalty.

As a 2016-only release, all available coins come from existing dealer and secondary market inventory. The single-year status gives the White Falcon more collector appeal than ongoing annual series, though the RCM did not publish specific mintage figures for the bullion version, suggesting demand-driven production rather than a fixed collector limit.

White Falcon Coin Specifications

The silver coin at 38 mm diameter matches the standard 1 oz coin size despite containing 1.5 oz of silver. This is achieved through a thicker coin profile. The 38 mm diameter means it fits standard 1 oz coin capsules and some tube configurations, though tubes hold 15 coins rather than the 20 or 25 typical for 1 oz coins.

Both versions feature radial lines on both sides of the coin, a standard RCM security feature introduced in 2015. These lines create a light-diffraction pattern unique to genuine Royal Canadian Mint products, serving as a visual authentication feature visible to the naked eye. This security technology is more advanced than what most private-mint products offer.

White Falcon Tax Treatment by Country

As Royal Canadian Mint legal tender coins at .9999 purity, both versions receive favourable tax treatment in most markets.

Canada: Both the gold and silver versions are GST/HST-exempt. Canadian law exempts investment-grade precious metals at 99.9% purity or above in bar, ingot, coin, or wafer form. The .9999 purity on both metals exceeds this threshold by a wide margin.

United States: Both versions qualify for inclusion in a precious metals IRA under IRS Section 408(m). The gold exceeds the 99.5% requirement; the silver exceeds the 99.9% requirement. As products of a recognised sovereign mint with legal tender status, they face no custodian eligibility issues. State sales tax varies, with roughly 35 states exempting bullion.

United Kingdom: The gold version is VAT-exempt as investment gold (above 995 fine). The silver version attracts 20% VAT. Neither version qualifies for CGT exemption, which in the UK requires coins to be Royal Mint legal tender. Pre-owned silver examples purchased through the margin scheme may reduce effective VAT.

European Union: Gold is VAT-exempt under the EU Investment Gold Directive. Silver is subject to national VAT rates, with the margin scheme available for secondary market purchases in Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain.

Australia: Gold at 99.5% purity and silver at 99.9% purity are GST-exempt. Both White Falcon versions qualify.

New Zealand: Gold at 99.5% purity and silver at 99.9% purity in coin form are GST-exempt. Both qualify.

Singapore: Both metals at the required purities qualify for the Investment Precious Metals GST exemption. Hong Kong: No sales tax applies to any precious metals.

The Gyrfalcon in Arctic Culture and on Canadian Coinage

The reverse design, by Canadian natural artist Steve Hepburn, depicts a gyrfalcon in flight with wings spread wide, capturing the bird's hunting prowess and aerial power. The gyrfalcon is the largest falcon species, with a wingspan that can exceed 130 cm. It breeds across the Arctic tundra from Canada to Scandinavia and Siberia, and the white morph featured on this coin is the most striking and rarest colour variant.

Gyrfalcons occupy a unique place in cultural history. In medieval falconry, they were considered the most valuable hunting bird, and the white-morph variant was reserved for royalty. Icelandic sagas record that white gyrfalcons were among the most prized diplomatic gifts between medieval kingdoms. The export of white gyrfalcons from Iceland was restricted by law, with violators facing severe penalties. Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor and author of the seminal falconry treatise De Arte Venandi cum Avibus, considered the gyrfalcon the noblest of all falcons.

The obverse carries Susanna Blunt's uncrowned portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, introduced on Canadian coinage in 2003. Blunt was the second Canadian artist to design the monarch's effigy, and her crownless portrait was a departure from tradition, being the first time a Canadian coin showed the monarch without a crown since George VI.

The coin's 2016 release places it among the RCM's broader exploration of Canadian Arctic wildlife on bullion products. The 1.5 oz silver format was introduced by the RCM in 2011 as a distinctive Canadian contribution to the bullion market. It has been used for multiple wildlife themes including the Polar Bear, Howling Wolf, SuperLeaf, and other designs. The format provides a unique stacking proposition but is less universally liquid than the standard 1 oz size used by the overwhelming majority of silver bullion coins worldwide.

The bilingual inscriptions (English and French) on the reverse are a distinctive Canadian feature, reflecting Canada's official bilingualism. Weight, purity, denomination, and year all appear in both languages.

White Falcon vs Other RCM Silver and 1.5 oz Coins

The White Falcon's competitive position is defined by two factors: the 1.5 oz format and the single-year production. Together, these place it in a niche between standard bullion and discontinued collector pieces.

Against the standard Silver Maple Leaf, the comparison is straightforward. The Maple Leaf is produced annually in vast quantities, offers the same .9999 purity, includes Bullion DNA authentication technology (introduced after the White Falcon's 2016 release), and has unmatched global liquidity. The White Falcon provides 50% more silver per coin, a distinctive wildlife design, and the single-year collector appeal. For pure investment stacking, the Maple Leaf wins on liquidity and per-ounce premiums. For buyers who want an interesting coin with extra metal content, the White Falcon is the more distinctive choice.

Within the RCM's 1.5 oz wildlife bullion line, the White Falcon competes with the Polar Bear, Howling Wolf, and other single-year releases that share the same format, purity, and packaging. The choice among them is aesthetic: Arctic falcon vs Arctic bear vs wolf. All share the same practical characteristics and face the same trade-off of interesting design at a non-standard weight vs the universal liquidity of the 1 oz Maple Leaf.

Against other Perth Mint and sovereign mint wildlife coins at 1 oz (Kookaburra, Koala, Britannia), the White Falcon offers more silver per coin at .9999 purity. The 1 oz coins offer easier stacking, broader tube compatibility, and tighter buyback spreads. The choice depends on whether the buyer values metal content per coin (1.5 oz) or per-ounce efficiency and liquidity (1 oz).

The War of 1812 from the same mint uses a 3/4 oz weight, the opposite end of the non-standard spectrum. Both demonstrate the RCM's willingness to experiment with weights outside the 1 oz norm, and both carry the resulting trade-offs in secondary market liquidity. The White Falcon's 1.5 oz provides more metal per coin than any standard bullion coin, while the War of 1812's 3/4 oz provides a lower entry point.