Related Research Articles
The toonie, formally the Canadian two-dollar coin, was introduced on February 19, 1996, by Minister of Public Works Diane Marleau. As of 2022, it possesses the highest monetary value of any circulating Canadian coin. The toonie is a bi-metallic coin which on the reverse side bears an image of a polar bear by artist Brent Townsend. The obverse, like all other current Canadian circulation coins, has a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. It has the words ELIZABETH II / D.G. REGINA in a typeface different from any other Canadian coin.
The British two pound (£2) coin is a denomination of sterling coinage. Its obverse has featured the profile of Queen Elizabeth II since the coin’s introduction. Three different portraits of the Queen have been used, with the current design by Jody Clark being introduced in 2015. The reverse design features Britannia.
The British five pound (£5) coin is a commemorative denomination of sterling coinage. As of October 2022, the obverse of new coins feature the profile of King Charles III. The obverse previously depicted Queen Elizabeth II between the coin's introduction in 1990 and the Queen's death in 2022. Two different portraits of the Queen graced the coin, with the last design by Ian Rank-Broadley being introduced in 1998. The coin has no standard reverse; instead it is altered each year to commemorate important events. Variant obverses have also been used on occasion.
The sovereign is a British gold coin with a nominal value of one pound sterling (£1) and contains 0.2354 troy oz of pure gold. Struck since 1817, it was originally a circulating coin that was accepted in Britain and elsewhere in the world; it is now a bullion coin and is sometimes mounted in jewellery. In addition, circulation strikes and proof examples are often collected for their numismatic value. In most recent years, it has borne the design of Saint George and the Dragon on the reverse; the initials of the designer, Benedetto Pistrucci, are visible to the right of the date.
The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins.
The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree. It is the most widely recognized national symbol of Canada.
The Royal Canadian Mint is the mint of Canada and a Crown corporation, operating under the Royal Canadian Mint Act. The shares of the Mint are held in trust for the Crown in right of Canada.
In Canada, a dime is a coin worth ten cents. It has been the physically smallest Canadian coin since 1922; it is smaller even than the penny, despite its higher face value. According to the Royal Canadian Mint, the official national term of the coin is the 10-cent piece, but in practice, the term dime predominates in English-speaking Canada. It is nearly identical in size to the American dime. Unlike its American counterpart, the Canadian dime is magnetic due to a distinct metal composition. From 1968 to 1999, it was composed entirely of nickel, and since 2000, it has consisted of a steel core with plating composed of layers of nickel and copper.
The quarter, short for quarter dollar, is a Canadian coin worth 25 cents or one-fourth of a Canadian dollar. It is a small, circular coin of silver colour. According to the Royal Canadian Mint, the official name for the coin is the 25-cent piece, but in practice it is usually called a "quarter", much like its American counterpart. In French, it is called a caribou or trente sous. The coin is produced at the Royal Canadian Mint's facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The Canadian five-cent coin, commonly called a nickel, is a coin worth five cents or one-twentieth of a Canadian dollar. It was patterned on the corresponding coin in the neighbouring United States. It became the smallest-valued coin in the currency upon the discontinuation of the penny in 2013. Due to inflation, the purchasing power of the nickel continues to drop and currently the coin represents less than 0.5% of the country's lowest minimum hourly wage.
The American Silver Eagle is the official silver bullion coin of the United States.
The Australian twenty-cent coin (Quinter) of the Australian decimal currency system was issued with conversion to decimal currency on 14 February 1966, replacing the florin which was worth two shillings, a tenth of a pound.
The coins of Canada are produced by the Royal Canadian Mint and denominated in Canadian dollars ($) and the subunit of dollars, cents (¢). An effigy of the reigning monarch always appears on the obverse of all coins. There are standard images which appear on the reverse, but there are also commemorative and numismatic issues with different images on the reverse.
The voyageur dollar is a coin of Canada that was struck for circulation from 1935 through 1986. Until 1968, the coin was composed of 80% silver. A smaller, nickel version for general circulation was struck from 1968 through 1986. In 1987, the coin was replaced by the loonie. However, like all of Canada's discontinued coins, the voyageur dollar coins remain legal tender.
Coins of the Australian dollar were introduced on 14 February 1966, although they did not at that time include the one-dollar or two-dollar coins. The dollar was equivalent in value to 10 shillings in the former currency.
The Canadian Platinum Maple Leaf is the official bullion platinum coin of Canada. First issued by the Royal Canadian Mint in 1988, it was available until 2002 in five different denominations, all of which are marked as containing .9995 pure platinum. The bullion coin was partly reintroduced in 2009 in the form of the 1 troy ounce denomination in .9999 purity, featuring a new portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse. The coins have legal tender status in Canada, but as is often the case with bullion coins, the face values of these coins is lower than the market price of the material they are made from.
The Australian Shilling, informally called a "bob", was a type of silver coinage issued by the Commonwealth of Australia, that circulated prior to the decimalisation of Australian coinage. The Australian shilling was derived from the British pre-decimal sterling pound system and was first issued following the passing of the Australian Coinage Act 1909, which established Australia's first formal currency system. The shilling was issued as part of Australia's silver coinage, which included the two-shilling (florin), the sixpence and the threepence. The shilling was minted from 1910 until 1963. During this period there was one significant modification to the design of the Australian shilling, the change in its reverse design, which occurred in 1938 when the design was altered from the Australian Coat of Arms (1910-1936) to the visage of a Merino ram’s head (1938-1963).
One of the most highly profitable aspects of the Royal Canadian Mint’s enterprise is in its Numismatic product line. The euphoria surrounding the year 2000 led to the birth of the Millennium 25-cent coin program. The numismatic line included proof quality coins sold individually or as a complete set. This level of excess would come to signify the coming decade. The number of numismatic releases would increase on an annual basis starting in 2003. Numismatic three cents, five cents, and ten cents would be introduced, along with numismatic three dollars and eight dollars. Luxury coins would not be immune to the dramatic increases that ensued. Coins with face values of 250, 300 and 350 dollars would be introduced by 2006.
Starting in 1997, the Royal Canadian Mint started to sell hockey medallions to the public. To commemorate the induction of Mario Lemieux in the Hockey Hall of Fame, a set was issued honouring all three inductees. One set was issued in Sterling Silver while another was issued in Nickel. The success of the release led to future issues.
References
- 1 2 "Industrious, enduring–the 5-cent coin". Royal Canadian Mint. Retrieved 20 December 2010.