1 oz Birds of Prey Silver Coin

The 1 oz Birds of Prey Silver Coin

Birds of Prey is a complete four-coin silver bullion series from the Royal Canadian Mint, issued in 2014 and 2015 and no longer in production. Each coin contains 1 oz of .9999 fine silver with a C$5 face value, the same format as the standard Silver Maple Leaf, but with a different North American raptor in flight on each release: the Peregrine Falcon (February 2014), Bald Eagle (August 2014), Red-Tailed Hawk (February 2015) and Great Horned Owl (August 2015). All four were designed by Emily Damstra, one of the most prolific wildlife coin designers working today, and her Birds of Prey renderings are considered among the finest wildlife work on modern bullion.

With 1,000,000 coins per design in the Brilliant Uncirculated strike, the series was calibrated for stacking demand rather than collector scarcity. That shows in how it trades: near or slightly above standard Maple Leaf pricing on the secondary market, with complete four-coin sets commanding a modest collector premium but no significant numismatic value for individual coins. The appeal is RCM four-nines silver with a finite mintage and distinguished artwork at close to ordinary bullion cost.

The series opener set the tone: the peregrine falcon is the fastest animal on Earth, capable of dive speeds exceeding 240 mph, and Canada's most iconic raptor. The closing Great Horned Owl broke from the side-profile format with an unusual front-facing flight pose, making it the most visually distinctive of the four.

Birds of Prey Series Specifications

Two production notes matter for buyers. First, security: the Birds of Prey coins do not carry the RCM's micro-engraved maple leaf or radial lines, which were introduced on the standard Maple Leaf around the same period but never applied here; authentication relies on standard RCM strike quality and precise specifications. Second, milk spots: like other RCM silver of this era, the 2014-2015 vintages commonly develop white calcium spots over time. This is cosmetic, with no effect on silver content, but inspect secondary-market coins before paying any collector premium. Proof strikes of each design exist separately at much lower mintages, and a one-off 2016 reverse proof Peregrine Falcon followed the series' conclusion.

Birds of Prey Tax Treatment by Country

At .9999 fine, these coins exceed every silver purity threshold in use among major jurisdictions.

• Canada: GST/HST exempt as refined silver above the 99.9% federal threshold. On disposal, the Listed Personal Property rule can apply: a coin both bought and sold for under $1,000 CAD generates no reportable gain or loss; otherwise 50% of the gain is taxable income.
• US: IRA-eligible at .9999 purity when held by an approved custodian. No federal sales tax; most states exempt bullion. Long-term gains are taxed at the collectibles rate of up to 28%.
• UK: 20% VAT on new silver; secondary-market coins may be available under the dealer margin scheme. Not CGT-exempt, since only UK legal tender coins qualify.
• EU: Silver attracts full local VAT in most member states (the EU's VAT-exemption list covers gold coins only); margin scheme treatment applies to second-hand coins in some countries.
• Australia and New Zealand: GST-free as investment-grade silver above the 99.9% threshold.
• Singapore and Hong Kong: Singapore exempts 99.9%+ silver from GST and levies no capital gains tax; Hong Kong has no sales tax and no CGT.

Birds of Prey vs Maple Leaf and Other Wildlife Series

The baseline comparison is the 1oz silver Maple Leaf: identical weight, purity and C$5 face value from the same mint. The Maple Leaf has a fixed design, much higher annual mintages, the deepest liquidity of any Canadian silver coin, and, on coins from the relevant years onward, micro-engraved security marks and MintShield anti-milk-spot treatment that the Birds of Prey series lacks. The Birds of Prey coins trade at a small premium over the Maple Leaf for their fixed mintage and artwork. As pure stacking silver, the Maple Leaf is the more rational buy; the Birds of Prey series is for buyers who want the design and set-completion angle at modest extra cost.

Its closest structural relative is the RCM's own Canadian Wildlife series (2011-2013), the six-coin predecessor featuring Canadian mammals in the same 1 oz, .9999, C$5 format, which established the template Birds of Prey followed. Collectors often pursue both sets together.

Against Perth Mint wildlife coins like the 1oz silver Kookaburra, the difference is structure: Perth's series run indefinitely with a new design each year, while Birds of Prey was a defined four-coin set with a clear end. A finished set has fixed supply, but it also means everything now trades on the secondary market, so availability and condition (watch for milk spots) vary more than for coins still in production.