One of the most profitable aspects of the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) is its numismatic product line. [1] The first numismatic coin from the RCM was arguably the 1935 dollar commemorating the Silver Jubilee of King George V. Though intended for circulation, it was the first Canadian coin commemorating an event. The decision to issue this coin was made in October 1934 by Prime Minister R. B. Bennett. [2] There were economic and patriotic motivations for the release of a silver dollar, including a hope to boost the silver mining industry. In future years, the silver dollar would have a more emotional meaning for many Canadians because it was also the first coin to have the Voyageur motif on its reverse.
Expansion in the numismatic line was a key element of the 1990s. The first significant sign was the creation of the two-hundred dollar gold coin. Starting in 1990, this coin was sold for a higher price than its face value. The first coin commemorated the Silver Jubilee of Canada's flag and sold for $395.00. The superstar of this collection would be the Canadian Native Cultures and Traditions coins. These coins were minted from 1997 to 2000. The Haida coin has been an award-winning coin for the RCM, taking the Best Coin Award at the 1997 Singapore International Coin Show. [3]
The advent of the two-hundred dollar gold series was quickly joined by a platinum series. These high-quality collector coins solidified the RCM's entry into the luxury coin market. A four-coin set with face values of $30, $75, $150, and $300 respectively were complemented by the high-quality artwork that adorned these luxury items. Notable artists such as Robert Bateman and Glen Loates contributed to these collections with polar bear and bird designs. The issue price for these collections was around $1,990 and the casing was a walnut or burgundy (for 1994) case with a black suede four-hole insert and a certificate of authenticity.
Year | Theme | Artist | Finish | Issue price (4-coin set) | Total mintage | Designs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1995 | Birds of Canada | Jean-Luc Grondin | Proof | $56.95 | 172,377 | Atlantic Puffins, Whooping Crane, Gray Jays, and White Tailed Ptarmigans |
1996 | Little Wild Ones | Dwayne Harty | Proof | $59.95 | 206,552 | Moose Calf, Wood Ducklings, Cougar Kittens, and Black Bear Cubs |
1997 | Canada's Best Friends | Arnold Nogy | Proof | $59.95 | 184,536 | Newfoundland, Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, Labrador Retriever, Canadian Eskimo Dog |
1998 | Canada's Ocean Giants | Pierre Leduc | Proof | $59.95 | 133,310 | Killer Whale, Humpback Whale, Beluga Whale, Blue Whale |
1999 | Cats of Canada | John Crosby | Proof | $59.95 | 83,423 | Tonkinese, Lynx, Cymric, Cougar |
Year | Theme | Artist | Issue price | Mintage |
---|---|---|---|---|
1998 | Part of 90th Anniversary of Royal Canadian Mint set. Coins were matte finish. | Ago Aarand | $99.00 | 24,893 |
1998 | Part of 90th Anniversary of Royal Canadian Mint set. Coins were matte finish. | Ago Aarand | $99.00 | 18,376 |
Year | Coin no. 1 | Coin no. 2 | Coin no. 3 | Coin no. 4 | Artist | Finish | Issue price (4-coin set) | Total mintage |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1998 | First Amateur Figure Skating Championships 1888 | First Cdn Ski Running and Jump Championships 1898 | First Overseas Cdn Soccer Tour of 1888 | Gilles Villeneuve, Grand Prix of Canada Victory, 1978 | Friedrich G. Peter | Proof | $59.95 | 56,428 |
1999 | First Cdn Open Golf Championship, 1904 | First International Yacht Race, US vs. Canada, 1874 | First Grey Cup, 1904 | Invention of Basketball by James Naismith, 1891 | Donald H. Curley | Proof | $59.95 | 52,115 |
Source: [4]
Year | Theme | Artist | Mintage | Issue price |
---|---|---|---|---|
1935 | Voyageur Dollar | Emanuel Hahn | 428,707 | $1.00 |
1939 | Royal Visit | Emanuel Hahn | 1,363,816 | $1.00 |
1949 | Newfoundland Entry Into Confederation | Thomas Shingles | 672,218 | $1.00 |
1958 | Totem Pole | Stephen Trenka | 3,039,630 | $1.00 |
1964 | Confederation Meetings Commemorative | Dinko Vodanovic | 7,296,832 | $1.00 |
1967 | Canadian Centennial | Alex Colville and Myron Cook | 6,767,496 | $1.00 |
1971 | British Columbia Centennial | Patrick Brindley | 585,217 | $3.00 |
1973 | RCMP Centennial | Paul Cedarberg | 904,723 | $3.00 |
1974 | Winnipeg Centennial | Paul Pederson | 628,183 | $3.50 |
1975 | Calgary Centennial | D. D. Paterson | 833,095 | $3.50 |
1976 | Library of Parliament Centennial | Patrick Brindley and Walter Ott | 483,722 | $4.00 |
1977 | Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II | Raymond Lee | 744,848 | $4.25 |
1978 | Commonwealth Games | Raymond Taylor | 640,000 | $4.50 |
1979 | Griffon Tricentennial | Walter Schluep | 688,671 | $5.50 |
1980 | Arctic Territories Centennial | D. D. Paterson | 389,564 | $22.00 |
1981 was the first year that the RCM issued two different qualities of silver dollars. One version was the Proof, which composed of a frosted relief against a parallel lined background. The second version was the Brilliant Uncirculated. The finish is classified as a brilliant relief on a brilliant background.
Year | Theme | Artist | Mintage (proof) | Issue Price (proof) | Mintage (BU) | Issue price (BU) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1981 | Canadian Pacific Railway Centennial | Christopher Gorey | 353,742 | $18.00 | 148,647 | $14.00 |
1982 | Regina Centennial | Huntley Brown | 577,959 | $15.25 | 144,989 | $10.95 |
1983 | World University Games | Carola Tietz | 340,068 | $16.15 | 159,450 | $10.95 |
1984 | Toronto Sesquicentennial | D. J. Craig | 571,079 | $17.50 | 133,563 | $11.40 |
1985 | National Parks Centennial | Karel Rohlicek | 537,297 | $17.50 | 162,873 | $12.00 |
1986 | Vancouver Centennial | Elliott John Morrison | 496,418 | $18.00 | 124,574 | $12.25 |
1987 | John Davis 400th Anniversary | Christopher Gorey | 405,688 | $19.00 | 118,722 | $14.00 |
1988 | Saint-Maurice Ironworks | R.R. Carmichael | 259,230 | $20.00 | 106,702 | $15.00 |
1989 | Mackenzie River Bicentennial | John Mardon | 272,319 | $21.75 | 110,650 | $16.25 |
1990 | Henry Kelsey Tricentennial | D. J. Craig | 222,983 | $22.95 | 85,763 | $16.75 |
1991 | Frontenac | D. J. Craig | 222,892 | $22.95 | 82,642 | $16.75 |
1992 | Kingston to York Stagecoach | Karsten Smith | 187,612 | $23.95 | 78,160 | 17.50 |
1993 | Stanley Cup Centennial | Stewart Sherwood | 294,214 | $23.95 | 88,150 | $17.50 |
1994 | RCMP Northern Dog Team | Ian D. Sparkes | 178,485 | $24.50 | 65,295 | $17.95 |
1995 | 325th Anniv. Hudson's Bay Company | Vincent McIndoe | 166,259 | $24.50 | 61,819 | $17.95 |
1996 | John McIntosh, McIntosh Apple | Roger Hill | 133,779 | $29.95 | 58,834 | $19.95 |
1997 | 25th Anniversary of Canada/Russia Summit Series | Walter Burden | 184,965 | $29.95 | 155,252 | $19.95 |
1997 | 10th Anniversary of Loon Dollar | Jean-Luc Grondin | 24,995 | $49.95 | No BU exists | N/A |
1998 | 125th Anniversary of RCMP | Adeline Halvorson | 130,795 | $29.95 | 81,376 | $19.95 |
1999 | 225th Anniversary of the Voyage of Juan Perez | D. J. Craig | 126,435 | $29.95 | 67,655 | $19.95 |
1999 | International Year of Older Persons | S. Armstrong-Hodgins | 24,976 | $49.95 | No BU exists | N/A |
The United States Mint is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bullion. The U.S. Mint is one of two U.S. agencies that manufactures physical money. The other is the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which prints paper currency. The first United States Mint was created in Philadelphia in 1792, and soon joined by other centers, whose coins were identified by their own mint marks. There are currently four active coin-producing mints: Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, and West Point.
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 country's 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 2000, it was composed entirely of nickel, and since 2001, 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 Canadian French, it is called a caribou. The coin is produced at the mint's facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
In Canada, a penny is an out-of-production coin worth one cent, or 1⁄100 of a dollar. According to the Royal Canadian Mint, the official term for the coin is the one-cent piece, but in practice the terms penny and cent predominate. Penny was likely readily adopted because the previous coinage in Canada was the British monetary system, where Canada used British pounds, shillings, and pence as coinage alongside U.S. decimal coins. Like all Canadian coins, the obverse depicts the reigning Canadian monarch at the time of issue.
The Canadian Gold Maple Leaf (GML) is a gold bullion coin that is issued annually by the Government of Canada. It is produced by the Royal Canadian Mint.
This glossary of numismatics is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to numismatics and coin collecting, as well as sub-fields and related disciplines, with concise explanations for the beginner or professional.
The Canadian Silver Maple Leaf is a silver bullion coin that is issued annually by the Government of Canada since 1988. It is produced by the Royal Canadian Mint.
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.
Since the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, the Royal Canadian Mint has struck Summer and Winter Olympic coins to mark games held in Canada.
Commemorative coins of Canada are coins issued by the Royal Canadian Mint to commemorate significant persons, special events, and anniversaries.
The Canadian silver dollar was first issued by the Royal Canadian Mint in 1935 to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V. The coin's reverse design was sculpted by Emanuel Hahn and portrays a voyageur and a person of Indigenous descent paddling a birch-bark canoe. The faint lines in the background represent the Northern Lights. The voyageur design was used on the dollar until 1986. It was then replaced with the 1987 Canadian 1-dollar coin. 1967 marked the end of the silver dollar as a business strike, or a coin issued for circulation. After 1967, the dollar coin was made of nickel, except for non-circulating commemorative issues for the collector market, which continue to contain silver.
Although the first Olympic coin can be traced back to 480 BC, the modern Olympics did not see its first commemoratives until 1951. The original concept of Olympic coins was that the Greeks believed that coins brought the general public closer to the Olympic games. The premise was that those who could not attend the games could at least have a tangible souvenir of the event.
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.
From 2000 to 2019, there were various technological achievements in Canadian coin minting. The first RCM gold coin to be directly laser etched was the $100 Gold Leduc Oil Fields coin from 2002. The technique would later be used for the 2003 $100 Gold Marquis Wheat coin and the 2004 $20 Iceberg coin. In 2001, the RCM achieved innovation with the 2001 Marconi $5 silver coin. It was the first RCM coin to include a direct lasered finish. One of the technological breakthroughs for the RCM involved the 2006 Canadian Achievement series silver coin featuring Colonel Chris Hadfield. It was the first Canadian coin to be completely sculpted using computer software.
The Royal Canadian Mint has made coins with various themes. Most recently, ice hockey has been used for many numismatic releases. The first known ice hockey coin was for the 1988 Winter Olympics. Issued on February 25, 1986, the coin featured a goalie on the coin. Edge lettering was also used for the coin, the first time that it was used on silver coins.
Yvon Gariepy was the President of the Royal Canadian Mint from 1975 to 1981. In later years, he worked for Canada Post. Gariepy was a professional member of the Order of Engineers of Quebec, Professional Corporation of Urbanists of Quebec, Canadian Institute of Planners and the Institute of the Public Administration of Canada.
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.
The three-cent silver, also known as the three-cent piece in silver or trime, was struck by the Mint of the United States for circulation from 1851 to 1872, and as a proof coin in 1873. Designed by the Mint's chief engraver, James B. Longacre, it circulated well while other silver coinage was being hoarded and melted, but once that problem was addressed, became less used. It was abolished by Congress with the Coinage Act of 1873.
The double sovereign is a gold coin of the United Kingdom with a face value of two pounds sterling (£2). Rarely issued in the first 150 years after its debut in 1820, it never had a significant presence in circulation. It became a collector and bullion coin, and has been struck most years since 1980. It features the reigning monarch on its obverse and, most often, Benedetto Pistrucci's depiction of Saint George and the Dragon on the reverse.