Commemorative coins of Canada - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

has an extensive history with regards to its currency. Beginning in the early 16th Century, items such as wampum

Wampum

Wampum are traditional, sacred shell beads of the Eastern Woodlands tribes of the indigenous people of North America. Wampum include the white shell beads fashioned from the North Atlantic channeled whelk shell; and the white and purple beads made from the quahog, or Western North Atlantic...

and furs were actually considered currency. With the colonization of France and England, various coins were introduced in the 18th and 19th Century. In the 20th Century, it has issued many commemorative coins
COinS
ContextObjects in Spans, commonly abbreviated COinS, is a method to embed bibliographic metadata in the HTML code of web pages. This allows bibliographic software to publish machine-readable bibliographic items and client reference management software to retrieve bibliographic metadata. The...

into circulation, temporarily replacing current coinage designs. For information on some non-circulating coins, go here.

Early 16th Century

Canada was inhabited by First Nations
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

who traded in goods on a barter basis, therefore, currency was not used, except by the Ojibway, who used copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

as currency.
Special objects, such as a copper shield, had special economic and social value. The Haidas of the west coast, as a measure of status and wealth used these.
Wampum
Wampum
Wampum are traditional, sacred shell beads of the Eastern Woodlands tribes of the indigenous people of North America. Wampum include the white shell beads fashioned from the North Atlantic channeled whelk shell; and the white and purple beads made from the quahog, or Western North Atlantic...

was also used to measure wealth and as gifts.
Aboriginals traded furs for supplies with European settlers and were fond of silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

objects.

1660s

The early French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

colonists bartered goods but also used metal coins like the 5-sol French coin circa 1670, but there was never enough hard currency.
Silver coins were sent from France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

but were taken out of circulation by merchants. They used them to pay their taxes and buy European goods.
The use of foreign coins was never legalized, although Spanish-American coins minted in Mexico would sometimes come in through secret trade.

1685

The coin shortage had grown so severe that colonial authorities resorted to using playing cards.
Playing cards were marked with the amount on the back and were given to soldiers as compensation. This practice continued on and off for several years.

1709-1713

Despite the continuing shortages for currency, playing cards were now banned as a form of currency.
Colonists had to make do with a 15 and a 30-deniers coin known as the mousquetaire. These gold coins were meant to pay soldiers and civil servants but did not stay in circulation very long. The name is believed to have come from the cross on the reverse of the coins, which resembled the crosses on the cloaks of the legendary musketeers.

Gold Louis

The Compagnie des Indes Occidentales held a monopoly over the fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...

in New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...

. In 1721, they issued coins called the Gold Louis.
These coins were not considered legal tender in France and local merchants refused them. Unfortunately, the coin shortage continued to be a very serious problem.

Card Money

Due to the continued currency shortage, the King of France authorized a new issue of card money in 1729. This was used until the fall of New France in 1760. The card money was printed on white cardboard and the size varied by denomination.
From 1720 to 1760, other forms of paper money
Paper Money
Paper Money is the second album by the band Montrose. It was released in 1974 and was the band's last album to feature Sammy Hagar as lead vocalist.-History:...

circulated, including treasury bills and letters of exchange. These surpassed the amount of card money in circulation.

Sol and Double Sol

Another coinage that was used was the Sol (Sou). The sol was equivalent to the size of a 20th Century one-cent coin and was produced between 1738 and 1756. The Sol was rated at 12 deniers. The Double Sol was produced until 1764, although large shipments to Quebec and Cape Breton

Cape Breton Island

Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....

ended in 1756. The Double Sol was rated at 24 deniers.

1800s: Spanish Dollar

The shortage of currency that had been experienced in the original North American colonies prior to the war of independence continued in the remaining British North American colonies into the 19th century. The economy was still dependent on the fur trade and coins from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. *Trade with various colonies plus the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, resulted in an influx of additional Spanish-American coinage
Spanish dollar
The Spanish dollar is a silver coin, of approximately 38 mm diameter, worth eight reales, that was minted in the Spanish Empire after a Spanish currency reform in 1497. Its purpose was to correspond to the German thaler...

.
In Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...

, officials punched out the centres of the Spanish American coins and made two coins: the one shilling
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...

and the five shilling.

Tokens and Army Bills

It took the public some time to trust paper money. During the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...

, the colonies issued army bills to finance the war effort. They circulated in large numbers and when the war ended in 1815, the British government redeemed the bills at full value. This restored trust in paper money, which led to the rise of banks.
Tokens, of which many were imported from England, served as coins during this period. Some tokens were anonymous in that they did not indicate the name of any specific merchant or institution, while others did.
Tokens offered a discount on purchases, similarly to Canadian Tire money
Canadian Tire money
Canadian Tire money is a loyalty program by Canadian Tire. It consists of coupons, issued by the company, which resemble real currency , and can be used as scrip in Canadian Tire stores, but is not considered a private currency...

in the 20th and 21st Century.

1821

Banks started to issue their own notes, which were guaranteed by their reserves of gold and silver.
One of the first banks to receive a charter was the Montreal Bank. It would later change its name to the Bank of Montreal
Bank of Montreal
The Bank of Montreal , , or BMO Financial Group, is the fourth largest bank in Canada by deposits. The Bank of Montreal was founded on June 23, 1817 by John Richardson and eight merchants in a rented house in Montreal, Quebec. On May 19, 1817 the Articles of Association were adopted, making it...

after receiving its charter in 1822.
The Bank of Upper Canada
Bank of Upper Canada
The Bank of Upper Canada was a Canadian bank established in 1821 under a Charter granted by the colony of Upper Canada in 1819. The incorporators were William Allan, Robert C. Horne, John Scarlett, Francis Jackson, William W. Baldwin, Alexander Legge, Thomas Ridout, his son Samuel Ridout, D’Arcy...

opened in 1821. For a long time, it was the largest in the province of Canada until its collapse in 1866.

1825

An imperial order-in-council of 1825 which was designed to encourage the circulation of sterling
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

coinage in all the colonies, actually had the reverse effect in the Canadas. It had the effect of driving out what little sterling specie coinage did actually circulate. This was because the rating of one Spanish dollar
Spanish dollar
The Spanish dollar is a silver coin, of approximately 38 mm diameter, worth eight reales, that was minted in the Spanish Empire after a Spanish currency reform in 1497. Its purpose was to correspond to the German thaler...

to fours shillings and four pence sterling that was contained in the order-in-council did not represent a realistic comparison between the *silver content in the Spanish dollar
Spanish dollar
The Spanish dollar is a silver coin, of approximately 38 mm diameter, worth eight reales, that was minted in the Spanish Empire after a Spanish currency reform in 1497. Its purpose was to correspond to the German thaler...

as compared to the gold content in the British gold sovereign. When the remedial legislation came about in the year 1838, the British North American colonies were excluded from its provisions due to recent minor rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada.

1837

Banks would start to issue more than just paper money. They would start to import tokens
Token coin
In the study of numismatics, tokens are coin-like objects used instead of coins. The field of tokens is part of exonumia. Tokens are used in place of coins and either have a denomination shown or implied by size, color or shape...

from England. The Bank of Montreal would import tokens and also had some tokens with their own name on it.
In an effort to impose order on the issuance of tokens (and purge the junk), three banks in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, plus the Quebec bank issued a new series of tokens. Said tokens included the image of a habitant on one side and the coat of arms of Montreal, along with the bank name, on the other. These tokens were popularly known as Papineaus.

1841

In 1841, the Province of Canada

Province of Canada

The Province of Canada, United Province of Canada, or the United Canadas was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham in the Report on the Affairs of British North America following the Rebellions of...

adopted a new system based on the Halifax rating

Halifax rating

The Halifax rating was a valuation of the Spanish dollar in the £sd accounting system. It set the Spanish dollar at a value of 5 shillings and was established c.1750 in Halifax, Nova Scotia...

. The new Canadian pound

Canadian pound

The pound was the unit of account for currency of the Canadas until 1858. It was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence. In Lower Canada, the sou was used, worth penny...

was equal to 4 U.S. dollars (92.88 grains gold), making one pound sterling

Pound sterling

The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

equal to 1 pound 4 shillings 4 pence Canadian. Thus, the new Canadian pound

Canadian pound

The pound was the unit of account for currency of the Canadas until 1858. It was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence. In Lower Canada, the sou was used, worth penny...

was worth 16 shillings 5.3 pence sterling.

1851

The 1850s was a decade of wrangling over whether to adopt a sterling

Pound sterling

monetary system or a decimal monetary system based on the US dollar. The local population, for reasons of practicality in relation to the increasing trade with the neighbouring USA, had an overwhelming desire to assimilate the Canadian currency with the American unit, but the imperial authorities in London still preferred the idea of sterling to be the sole currency throughout the British Empire

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

. In 1851, the Canadian parliament passed an act for the purposes of introducing a pound sterling

Pound sterling

unit in conjunction with decimal fractional coinage. The idea was that the fractional values would correspond to exact values of the US dollar fractions. The authorities in London refused to give consent to the act on technical grounds. This was the last time that the imperial authorities in London ever questioned Canada

Canada

's internal jurisdiction.

1853

As a compromise, an act of the Canadian parliament introduced the gold standard into Canada, based on both the British gold sovereign and the American Gold Eagle coins. The gold sovereign was legal tender at a rating of $US4.86⅔. No coinage was provided for under the 1853 act. Sterling

Pound sterling

coinage was made legal tender, and all other silver coins were demonetized. Dollar transactions were legalized. The Government in London agreed in principle to a decimal coinage but held out the hope that a sterling unit would be adopted under the name 'Royal'. However, the Canadian authorities were determined to align with the US dollar and in 1857 the decision was made to introduce a decimal coinage into Canada in conjunction with the American unit.

1858

The first Canadian coinage was authorized and executed. The coins were struck at the Royal Mint

Royal Mint

The Royal Mint is the body permitted to manufacture, or mint, coins in the United Kingdom. The Mint originated over 1,100 years ago, but since 2009 it operates as Royal Mint Ltd, a company which has an exclusive contract with HM Treasury to supply all coinage for the UK...

at Tower Hill in London and they portrayed the head of Queen Victoria on the obverse. They represented fractions of the US dollar unit and hence when this new decimal coinage was introduced, Canada's currency became aligned with the US currency, although the British gold sovereign continued to remain legal tender at the rate of £1 = 4.86⅔ right up until the 1990s.
Also in late 1858 Canadians had made their own coins. When they did it wasn't long before not just Upper Canada was using the coins, but also Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island was also using the Canadian coins.

1861

New Brunswick

New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

and Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

adopt a decimal system in conjunction with the US dollar unit, hence bringing them into line with the Province of Canada

Province of Canada

1865

Newfoundland starts to release its own coinage. In 1865, the one-cent, five-cent, ten-cent, twenty-cent and two dollar coins were released. It was a decimal coinage that represented fractions of the Spanish dollar

Spanish dollar

The Spanish dollar is a silver coin, of approximately 38 mm diameter, worth eight reales, that was minted in the Spanish Empire after a Spanish currency reform in 1497. Its purpose was to correspond to the German thaler...

unit that was used in British Guiana

British Guiana

British Guiana was the name of the British colony on the northern coast of South America, now the independent nation of Guyana.The area was originally settled by the Dutch at the start of the 17th century as the colonies of Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice...

. This had the benefit of making one penny sterling

Pound sterling

exactly equal to two new Newfoundland cents. This was seen as a compromise between those who wanted Newfoundland to adopt the British system and those who wanted Newfoundland to adopt the American system. The Spanish dollar

Spanish dollar

unit was slightly greater in value than the US dollar unit. This was because in 1792 when the US dollar was created, Hamilton at the treasury had weighed an average sample of worn Spanish dollars and the US dollar was defined, based on that average weight.

Newfoundland eventually became fully integrated into the Canadian monetary system in 1894 following the Newfoundland bank crash. The Canadian banks moved in following the crash, and the Canadian dollar

Canadian dollar

The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...

was introduced.

1867

The Province of Canada

Province of Canada

, New Brunswick

New Brunswick

, and Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

unite in a federation entitled the Dominion of Canada. The three respective currencies merge into the Canadian dollar

Canadian dollar

1871

Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...

goes decimal and introduces a new one cent coin. Not long afterwards, Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...

joins the Dominion of Canada and its currency gets absorbed into the Canadian system.

1873

International silver crisis follows in the wake of the decision by the German Reich to abandon silver and adopt the new gold mark standard. The USA goes unto the gold standard 'de facto', and both the US dollar and the Canadian dollar

Canadian dollar

diverge from their one-to-one parity with the silver Mexican dollar.

Dominion of Canada

With the onset of Canadian confederation

Canadian Confederation

Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...

, the Dominion of Canada came into existence on July 1, 1867. While the chartered banks were still permitted to issue their own notes, the government undertook the effort to implement its own currency.

Canadian currency was decimalized with Confederation effectively making Canada leave the Sterling zone.
Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

issued a new series of coins in the following denominations: one-cent, five-cent, ten-cent, twenty-five cents, and fifty-cents.
These coins were legal tender in the four provinces that signed the Confederation Act: Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

, and Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

.

Dominion of Canada bank notes

The Dominion of Canada issued $1 and $2 notes in 1870. $500 and $1,000 notes followed in 1871, and $50 and $100 notes in 1872. A $4 denomination was added in 1882.

Chartered bank notes

The chartered banks were limited to issuing notes in denominations of $4 and over. This limit was raised to $5 in 1881.
Some banks circumvented the agreement by issuing notes in odd denominations, such as the $6 and $7 notes issued by the Molsons Bank in 1871. This meant that they could carry out transactions without having to use the government’s $1 and $2 notes.

The First Coin

At the opening ceremonies for the Ottawa branch of the Royal Mint

Royal Mint

, held on January 2, 1908, Governor General Earl Gray struck the Dominion of Canada’s first domestically produced coin. It was a silver fifty-cent piece bearing the effigy of His Majesty King Edward VII.

1911

The Ottawa branch of the Royal Mint opened its own refinery. By year’s end, a record number of gold sovereigns (256,946) were coined at the new facility.
A new monarch assumed the British throne. His Majesty King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....

acceded to the throne in 1910 and his effigy would now appear on all coins minted in Canada.

1920

The second coin that was struck at the Ottawa Mint’s facilities was the large one-cent piece. This coin would be replaced in 1920 by a smaller bronze coin. This cent was now closer in size to its American counterpart.

1922 Nickel

Canada now converts to a five-cent piece that is made of nickel. This proves to be an ideal metal for coinage because Canada is the world’s leading source of nickel ore.

1931

Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

abandons the gold standard and the Canadian dollar
Canadian dollar
The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...

moves to a discount against the US dollar. A problem arises in Newfoundland which although uses Canadian currency was not a part of Canada at that time. The banks in Newfoundland
History of Newfoundland and Labrador
The History of Newfoundland and Labrador is the story of the peoples who have lived in what is now the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador....

were still obliged to redeem their notes in gold, and so trading in one direction between Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

and the USA began to take place through Newfoundland in order to take advantage of the arbitrage
Arbitrage
In economics and finance, arbitrage is the practice of taking advantage of a price difference between two or more markets: striking a combination of matching deals that capitalize upon the imbalance, the profit being the difference between the market prices...

. This state of affairs did not last for very long because pressure was brought to bear on Newfoundland to amend its legislation in line with Canada's gold embargo. The new Newfoundland legislation took effect at the end of December 1931, and hence Newfoundland also abandoned the gold standard.
The Discontinuance Proclamation of December 1, 1931, transforms the Ottawa branch of the Royal Mint into the Royal Canadian Mint
Royal Canadian Mint
The Royal Canadian Mint produces all of Canada's circulation coins, and manufactures circulation coins on behalf of other nations. The Mint also designs and manufactures: precious and base metal collector coins; gold, silver, palladium, and platinum bullion coins; medals, as well as medallions and...

.

Bank of Canada

The Bank of Canada was created in 1934 and given sole responsibility for issuing paper currency in Canada. The chartered banks still issuing their own bank notes were permitted to do so for another ten years.

Voyageur

The Royal Canadian Mint issues the first silver dollar in 1935. It is meant to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of His Majesty King George V. The coin’s reverse design is sculpted by Emanuel Hahn
Emanuel Hahn
Emanuel Otto Hahn was a German-born Canadian sculptor and coin designer. He taught and later married Elizabeth Wyn Wood. He co-founded and was the first president of the Sculptors' Society of Canada....

and portrays a Voyageur and an aboriginal paddling a birch-back canoe. The faint lines in the background are meant to represent the Northern Lights
Aurora (astronomy)
An aurora is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the high latitude regions, caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere...

. This design would be utilized on the dollar until 1986.

Banknotes

On 11 March 1935, the Bank of Canada issued its first series of bank notes.
Unique to the 1935 series were:

A $25 note, issued to commemorate the silver jubilee of King George V
A $500 note, a carry-over from Dominion of Canada bank notes.

This is the only Bank of Canada series that includes $25 and $500 bank notes.

1937

In 1937, new Canadian coinage is introduced. New reverse designs are introduced for the following coins:

Denomination	Design	Artist
One Cent	Maple Leaf	G.E. Kruger-Gray
Five-Cent	Beaver	G.E. Kruger-Gray
Ten-Cent	Bluenose	Emanuel Hahn
Twenty-Five Cents	Caribou	Emanuel Hahn
Fifty Cents	Coat of Arms	G.E. Kruger-Gray

New Banknotes

The 1937 series of bank notes saw the portrait of King George VI replace those of other members of the royal family on all denominations except the $100 and $1,000 bank notes, which pictured former Canadian prime ministers. Other departures from the 1935 series included colour variations and the location of the portrait in the centre of the bank note bordered by English and French text.

1939

A new silver dollar is issued to commemorate the Royal Visit of His Majesty King George VI and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. The reverse design by Emanuel Hahn depicts the Centre Block and the Peace Tower
Peace Tower
The Peace Tower is a focal bell and clock tower, sitting on the central axis of the Centre Block of the Canadian parliament buildings in Ottawa, Ontario. The present incarnation replaced the Victoria Tower after the latter burned down in 1916, along with most of the Centre Block...

of the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa. The legend on the coin, “Fide Suorum Regnat”, means, “He reigns by the faith of his people.”

1943

The Royal Bank of Canada
Royal Bank of Canada
The Royal Bank of Canada or RBC Financial Group is the largest financial institution in Canada, as measured by deposits, revenues, and market capitalization. The bank serves seventeen million clients and has 80,100 employees worldwide. The company corporate headquarters are located in Toronto,...

released the last bank notes that were issued by any of the chartered banks.
Also in 1943, a new five-cent piece was introduced. Due to the shortages of nickel, owing its use for munitions, the Royal Canadian Mint adopted tombac
Tombac
Tombac, as spelled in French, or Tombak is a brass alloy with high copper content and 5-20% zinc content. Tin, lead or arsenic may be added for colouration.It is a cheap malleable alloy mainly used for medals, ornament, decoration and some munitions....

, a type of brass for the five-cent piece. The composition of tombac was .880 copper and .120 zinc. The coin was twelve-sided, so that the public could easily distinguish it from the bronze cent. Rather than the traditional beaver, the patriotic V for Victory (made famous by Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...

and a burning torch were now used. The coin was designed by Thomas Shingles
Thomas Shingles
Thomas Shingles was the Master Engraver of the Royal Canadian Mint from 1943 until his retirement in 1965; he first began work at the Mint in 1939...

, the Chief Engraver for the Royal Canadian Mint, and the coin’s rim holds a message in morse code
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...

that states: “We win when we work willingly.”

1948

When India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

gained its independence on August 1947, the legend IND:IMP (Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

for Emperor of India) had to be removed from the obverse of all Canadian coinage. The legend appeared on all Canadian coinage since 1902.
Owing to the time required to produce new dies, the revised inscription did not appear until late 1948.

1949

War Medals: In honour of the service of Canadians during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the Defence Department commissioned the Royal Canadian Mint to strike a Defence of Britain Medal and The War Medal 1939-1945. Both medals were struck in .800 fine silver.
Newfoundland joins Confederation: A silver dollar was struck to commemorate the entry of Newfoundland into the Dominion of Canada. The coin depicts the ship called The Matthew. This was the ship in which John Cabot
John Cabot
John Cabot was an Italian navigator and explorer whose 1497 discovery of parts of North America is commonly held to have been the first European encounter with the continent of North America since the Norse Vikings in the eleventh century...

made his historic discovery of Newfoundland in 1497.

1951

200th Anniversary of Nickel
Nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...

Discovery: The bicentennial of the isolation and naming of the mineral by Swedish chemist A.F. Cronstedt is commemorated with a five-cent coin. At the time of issue, Canada supplied 90% of the world’s nickel supply. The coin features a hill with a smokestack in the middle.

1953

The first Effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II appears on Canadian coinage for the first time.

Devil's Head Banknotes

In 1954, the Third Series of Canadian banknotes was released. Significant changes to the design of Canada's paper currency gave it a whole new look that set the standard for the future.

This series caused controversy because highlighted areas of the Queen's hair gave the illusion of a grinning demon behind the ear. The term "Devil's Head" is commonly used to describe these bank notes. The Bank of Canada had both bank note companies modify the face plates by darkening the highlights in the hair. These modifications were made in 1956 for all denominations.

1958

To commemorate the centennial of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, a silver dollar is issued. With a reverse designed by Stephen Trenka, a totem pole is the focal point of the design with a view of the mountains in the background.

1959

In 1957, the Coat of Arms of Canada was simplified. At the suggestion of the Queen, the crown of Edward the Confessor

Edward the Confessor

Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....

was substituted for that of the Tudors. The changes were reflected in the 1959 fifty-cent piece. The new reverse was modelled and designed by Thomas Shingles.

1964

The fifth coin in the series of commemorative dollars (the others being 1935, 1939, 1949, and 1958) recalls the centennial of Confederation conferences held in Charlottetown

Charlottetown

Charlottetown is a Canadian city. It is both the largest city on and the provincial capital of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III, Charlottetown was first incorporated as a town in 1855 and designated as a city in 1885...

and Quebec City. The design is by Dinko Vodanovic, who was a winner of a nationwide competition. The drawing features the emblems of the four European nations who took part in the founding of Canada: France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, and England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. More than 7 million of these coins were minted.

1965

The effigy of Queen Elizabeth II was updated. A new obverse was sculpted by Arnold Machin

Arnold Machin

Arnold Machin O.B.E, R.A. was a British artist, sculptor, coin and stamp designer.Machin was born in Stoke-on-Trent in 1911. He started work at the age of 14 as an apprentice china painter at the Minton Pottery. During the Depression he learnt to sculpt at Stoke-on-Trent's Art School, which was...

, and featured a more mature Queen wearing a tiara. The legend was also revised. The wording Dei Gratia was shortened to D.G. to save space.

1967

Canadian artist and sculptor Alex Colville

Alex Colville

David Alexander Colville, is a Canadian painter.Colville's family moved from Toronto to Amherst, Nova Scotia in 1929. He attended Mount Allison University from 1938-1942, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Colville married Rhoda Wright that year and enlisted in the Canadian Army under the...

created six new designs to commemorate Canada’s centennial. The designs for Canada’s coinage is as follows:

Denomination	Design	Symbolism
Penny Penny (Canadian coin) In Canada, a penny is a coin worth one cent or of a dollar. According to the Royal Canadian Mint, the official national term of the coin is the "one-cent piece", but in practice the term penny or cent is universal. Originally, "penny" referred to a two-cent coin. When the two-cent coin was...	Rock Dove	Spiritual values and peace
Nickel Nickel (Canadian coin) 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...	Rabbit	Emblematic of fertility and new life
Dime Dime (Canadian coin) In Canada a dime is a coin worth ten cents. It is the smallest of the currently issued Canadian coins. According to the Royal Canadian Mint, the official national term of the coin is the 10 cent piece, but in practice the term dime is universal...	Mackerel	To represent continuity
Quarter Quarter (Canadian coin) The quarter is a Canadian coin, valued at 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 simply called a quarter.-History of...	Bobcat	Embodiment of intelligence and decisive action
50 cent piece 50 Cent Piece (Canadian coin) The fifty-cent piece is the common name of the Canadian coin worth 50 cents. It is sometimes referred to as a "half dollar." The coin's reverse depicts the coat of arms of Canada. At the opening ceremonies for the Ottawa branch of the Royal Mint, held on January 2, 1908, Governor General Earl Grey...	Howling Wolf	To evoke the vastness of Canada
Silver Dollar Canadian silver dollar The Royal Canadian Mint issued the first silver dollar 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 an aboriginal paddling a birch-bark canoe. The faint lines in the background represent the Northern...	Goose	Dynamic serenity

Centennial Banknotes

Two series of $1 dollar banknotes were released to celebrate the Centennial of Canada. The scene for both banknotes featured the original Parliament Buildings which were destroyed by fire in 1916. Both banknotes looked the same but one had the Standard Serial Number, while the other was Double Dated (1867–1967)

Scenes of Canada Banknotes

The main characteristic of the new design was the use of multicoloured tints beneath the dominant colour. This series was often dubbed the "multicoloured series". With the exception of the $1 note, the use of black ink was abandoned. Furthermore, the words "this note is legal tender" replaced the phrase "will pay to the bearer on demand," reflecting the fact that Canada's currency had long ceased to be redeemable in gold. The $1,000 denomination was not included in this issue.

Unlike previous series, the 1969-79 series did not have the same date of issue for all denominations, but rather the year in which the printing plate was produced.
Originally, the Queen's portrait was to appear on all denominations. However, the Minister of Finance requested the inclusion of portraits of former Canadian prime ministers on the new bank notes to enhance national identity.

1973

The 25-cent piece for 1973 bears a special reverse designed by Paul Cedarberg (the Police Constable sitting on a horse in the design). It honoured the RCMP for 100 years of service.

1974

The Centenary of Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...

, Manitoba is celebrated on a silver dollar. The design consists of a large 100. In the first 0 is a view of Main Street in 1874 while the second 0 is a view of the same location, but 100 years later. For the first time, the nickel dollar and the special collector's issue of silver dollars had the same design.
A unique error existed with the coin. On the reverse, the first 0 on the coin has a double yoke. An animal is shown pulling a cart, and the design has one yoke right near the neck of the animal. The error has a double yoke near the neck of the animal.

1975

The 1975 Bank of Canada $50 banknote featured the Dome Formation from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s Musical Ride. The note enjoyed circulation for fifteen years before counterfeiting forced its removal from circulation.

Montreal Olympics

To celebrate the XXI Olympic Games in Montreal, the Royal Canadian Mint launches five and ten dollar coins. Seven series are created for a total of 28 different coins. Said coins are the first Canadian silver coins to feature face values of five and ten dollars. A one hundred dollar gold coin is also created, and this would be the first of the Modern Olympic coins to feature a face value of one hundred dollars.
All medals awarded to Olympic champions are also produced by the Royal Canadian Mint
Royal Canadian Mint
The Royal Canadian Mint produces all of Canada's circulation coins, and manufactures circulation coins on behalf of other nations. The Mint also designs and manufactures: precious and base metal collector coins; gold, silver, palladium, and platinum bullion coins; medals, as well as medallions and...

.

1979

In February 1979, the Government of Canada launches the Gold Maple Leaf programme on a three-year trial basis.
The Royal Canadian Mint’s Chief Engraver Walter Ott designed the reverse of the coin.
The coin contained one troy ounce of twenty-four karat gold (99.9% pure). The only other widely available gold coin in the world was 22 karat (91.6% pure). Three years later, the purity would be increased to "four nines" pure, eventually with some special issues at "five nines" purity.

1981

The success of the Gold Maple Leaf results in Parliament allowing the coin to be produced on an ongoing basis.

O Canada!

A one hundred dollar gold coin was issued to commemorate the adoption of O Canada
O Canada
It has been noted that the opening theme of "O Canada" bears a strong resemblance to the "Marsch der Priester" , from the opera Die Zauberflöte , composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and that Lavallée's melody was inspired by Mozart's tune...

as the country’s national anthem on July 1, 1980. The reverse design is by Roger Savage and the coin is released in 1981.

1982

A commemorative dollar coin is issued for circulation on June 10, 1982. It recognizes the patriation of Canada’s constitution and the creation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. A total of 11,812,000 are minted for circulation.

1984

A commemorative dollar coin to honour Jacques Cartier is issued for circulation. It commemorates the 450th Anniversary of Cartier’s landing at Gaspé

Gaspé, Quebec

Gaspé is a city at the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula in the Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine region of eastern Quebec, Canada. As of the 2006 census, the city had a total population of 14,819....

, Quebec. The coin was released on July 24, 1984, and a total of 6,141,503 are minted for circulation.

1986

The Birds of Canada Banknotes series was released. The 1986 series of bank notes was designed with enhanced security features to counter developments in colour-copier technology.

1987

The one dollar coin (known affectionately as the Loonie) is released as a cost-cutting measure.
The coin was minted of aureate bronze and was plated on pure nickel with an eleven-sided shape.
The reverse of a Canadian Loon at rest on a lake was the design of Canadian wildlife artist Robert Ralph Carmichael.

Calgary Olympics

To finance the XV Winter Olympic Games in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

, a series of ten commemorative coins were issued.

1988

Based on the success of the Gold Maple Leaf program, the Royal Canadian Mint releases the Silver Maple Leaf. Each coin contained one troy ounce of 99.99% fine silver.

1989

After a two year period of dual issuance and circulation with the $1 coin, the Bank of Canada retires the $1 note from circulation.

1990

The new effigy of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II depicts the monarch in her 64th year. The portrait was designed by Dora de Pedery-Hunt and was in use on circulation coins until 2003. The only coins past 2003 that still use this effigy are the Chinese Lunar New Year coins (the series reached its conclusion in 2009).

Canada 125

To celebrate Canada's 125th anniversary in 1992, 12 different quarters were put into circulation, one for each province and one each for the territories of Yukon

Yukon

Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....

and Northwest Territories

Northwest Territories

The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...

. There was no coin issued for the territory of Nunavut

Nunavut

Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...

, as it did not exist until 1999.

Loonie

Along with the 1992 quarters, there was also a commemorative loonie
Loonie
The Canadian 1 dollar coin is a gold-coloured, bronze-plated, one-dollar coin introduced in 1987. It bears images of a common loon, a bird which is common and well known in Canada, on the reverse, and of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse.The design for the coin was meant to be a voyageur theme,...

for that year. The coin features people in front of the parliament building. One of them is holding a Canadian flag.

1994-1995

The 1994 loonies featured a cenotaph

Cenotaph

A cenotaph is an "empty tomb" or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been interred elsewhere. The word derives from the Greek κενοτάφιον = kenotaphion...

. In 1995, the Royal Canadian Mint

Royal Canadian Mint

The Royal Canadian Mint produces all of Canada's circulation coins, and manufactures circulation coins on behalf of other nations. The Mint also designs and manufactures: precious and base metal collector coins; gold, silver, palladium, and platinum bullion coins; medals, as well as medallions and...

issued a loonie depicting three peacekeepers.

1996

The two-dollar coin was introduced on February 19, 1996, to replace the two-dollar banknote. The decision was based on the fact that coins lasted 20 years longer than banknotes.

The “Toonie” features a bi-metallic locking mechanism, which was engineered and patented by the Royal Canadian Mint. The coin’s outer ring is nickel while the inner core is aluminum bronze (92% copper, 6% aluminum, 2% nickel). In 1996 alone, 375 million toonies were struck.
The reverse depicts an adult polar bear in the early summer on an ice floe. It was designed by an Ontario artist, Brent Townsend
Brent Townsend
Brent Townsend is a Canadian portrait artist who designed, in 1996, the most recent portrait of the Polar Bear in early summer on an ice floe on the current Canadian 2 dollar coin.-External links:*...

, who specializes in North American wildlife and landscapes.

1997

A new round one-cent coin is introduced. The previous one-cent coin contained 98% copper (which was also twelve sided) but its composition was modified. Now that the coin was composed of copper-plated zinc, the twelve-sided one-cent coin became difficult to produce. Therefore, the round design was introduced to complement the new technology.

1999

Holograms
The Royal Canadian Mint celebrated the 20th Anniversary of its Gold Maple Leaf with a high-tech version. The bullion coin features a hologram, which is a first for the Mint. Its innovation consists of striking the hologram directly onto the coin’s surface, instead of producing and applying it in separate steps.

Millennium
In 1999, 12 quarters were issued, one for each month, to celebrate the coming millennium

Millennium

A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....

. Each of the 12 coins were selected from designs submitted by the public. The coins depicted a theme that defined Canada in the previous millennium, and was named after the month it stood for.

2000

Millennium

In 2000, 12 quarters were issued, again one for each month, that were to celebrate the new millennium. Once again, each of the 12 coins were selected from designs submitted by the public. The coins depicted a theme that defined Canada's hope for the new millennium, and was named after the theme.

The first coloured Canadian collector coin is released. “Celebration”, one of the twenty-four twenty-five cent pieces designed for the Millennium program, becomes the first Canadian coin ever to be re-issued in a colourized version. This special collector version was released in July 2000, and features a Canadian flag with a red maple leaf and side panels.

2001

In 2001, Parliament passed a special bill creating a special silver three cent coin to commemorate the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the first Canadian postage stamp. Usually, the Royal Canadian mint has the authority to mint commemorative coinage on its own.
In 2001, a dime honouring Canadian volunteers was issued. It depicts a sun at the bottom, and the faces of three people at the top. To commemorate the international Year of the Volunteer, a total of 224,714,000 are minted for circulation.

Canadian Journey Banknotes

The Canadian Journey series was released between 2001-2004. These notes are distinguished by new and enhanced security features, world-class designs, and a tactile feature to help the blind and visually impaired identify the different denominations.

2002

In 2002, a special 50 cent piece was put into circulation. The reverse

Obverse and reverse

Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags , seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse...

of the coin shows the coat of arms of Canada

Coat of arms of Canada

The Arms of Canada is, since 1921, the official coat of arms of the Canadian monarch, and thus also of Canada...

, as usual, however the obverse features a unique picture of Queen Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

. This coin celebrates the 50 years the queen has been in reign.

As well, coins issued in 2002 are missing the mint date as it usually appears on the reverse ("tails") side. Instead, the obverse ("heads") side has a commemorative-style double date reading "1952-2002".

2003

On June 2, 2003, an updated effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was unveiled. Introduced one year after her Golden Jubilee, the latest effigy features Her Majesty, without a crown. The portrait was designed by Susanna Blunt

Susanna Blunt

Susanna Blunt is a Canadian portrait artist who designed the most recent portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the current Canadian coinage, which began in 2003. She was born in 1941. in Harbin, China, the daughter of an English banker. Blunt started her studies at the Banff School of Fine Arts as a...

2004

In 2004, two separate commemorative quarters were minted. One depicted a sailboat, which was to represent the 400th anniversary of Acadia

Acadia

Acadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire of New France, in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day Maine. At the end of the 16th century, France claimed territory stretching as far south as...

D-Day

To commemorate the 60th Anniversary of D-Day

D-Day

D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...

, the Royal Canadian Mint releases two numismatic products.

A sterling silver version of a five-cent coin with the popular “V Nickel” design from 1943-1945 was issued with the double date of 1944 and 2004. The coin was released with a medallion and packaged with a CD-Rom
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....

.
The second coin was a Silver Maple
Canadian Silver Maple Leaf
The Canadian Silver Maple Leaf is a silver bullion coin issued annually by the government of Canada. The coin has been minted by the Royal Canadian Mint since 1988....

Leaf privy mark that featured a soldier and the date of D-Day: June 6, 1944.

Lucky Loonie

The first Lucky Loonie is released and serves as a gold luck charm for the Canadian Olympic athletes competing at the 2004 Summer Olympics

2004 Summer Olympics

The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...

in Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

, Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

. A Sterling Silver numismatic version is issued as well. This coin is released two years after a Loonie was secretly buried at centre ice during the 2002 Winter Olympic games in Salt Lake City, Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

when the Canadian Men’s and Women’s Olympic Hockey

Olympic Hockey

Olympic Hockey may refer to* Field hockey at the Summer Olympics* Ice hockey at the Olympic Games* Olympic Hockey Nagano '98, a Nintendo 64 video game...

teams skated to gold.

The Poppy

The Royal Canadian Mint releases the world’s first coloured circulation coin. The coin features the Poppy
Poppy
A poppy is one of a group of a flowering plants in the poppy family, many of which are grown in gardens for their colorful flowers. Poppies are sometimes used for symbolic reasons, such as in remembrance of soldiers who have died during wartime....

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

’s flower of remembrance. The Poppy coin is dedicated to all 117,000 Canadians who gave their lives while in the nation’s service.
To meet the engineering and design challenges involved in producing this coin, the Mint perfected a high-speed colouring process that can generate thirty million coins. The process ensures that the colour adheres to the medal and resists day-to-day wear.

Military Commemoratives

To celebrate the Year of the Veteran, two commemorative coins were released for circulation. A five-cent coin with the popular “V Nickel” design from 1943-1945 was issued with the double date of 1945 and 2005. A commemorative 25-cent was struck. Over 30,000,000 pieces were put into Canadian circulation. Various numismatic pieces were also released to commemorate Canada’s military contributions.

A sterling silver version of the five-cent 1945-2005 Victory Nickel was released with a medallion and packaged in a tin box with a booklet; depicting the VE Day Celebrations.
A six coin set featuring a fifty-cent face value were issued marking the various events of World War II, including: Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...

, Battle of the Atlantic, the Raid on Dieppe
Dieppe Raid
The Dieppe Raid, also known as the Battle of Dieppe, Operation Rutter or later on Operation Jubilee, during the Second World War, was an Allied attack on the German-occupied port of Dieppe on the northern coast of France on 19 August 1942. The assault began at 5:00 AM and by 10:50 AM the Allied...

, the Conquest of Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

, the Liberation of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, and Battle of the Scheldt
Battle of the Scheldt
The Battle of the Scheldt was a series of military operations of the Canadian 1st Army, led by Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds. The battle took place in northern Belgium and southwestern Netherlands during World War II from 2 October-8 November 1944...

.
A five dollar silver coin (complemented by a fifty dollar gold version) to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

was released.
A joint release with the Royal Dutch Mint
Royal Dutch Mint
The Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt , seated in Utrecht, the Netherlands, is a company owned entirely by the Dutch State, and since 1807 the only Dutch entity allowed to strike and give out coins.-History:...

honouring the Liberation of the Netherlands. The coin featured eight brilliant uncirculated Euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

coins and one Canadian twenty-five cent coin with the same design as the Liberation of the Netherlands fifty-cent coin from the set mentioned above.
Two Silver Maple Leaf coins are released to commemorate VE Day and VJ Day. Both coins feature privy marks with the dates of both days.

Terry Fox

To commemorate the 25th Anniversary of Terry Fox

Terry Fox

Terrance Stanley "Terry" Fox , was a Canadian humanitarian, athlete, and cancer research activist. In 1980, with one leg having been amputated, he embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for cancer research...

’s Marathon of Hope, a one-dollar coin is issued with his image. This marks the first time that a Canadian-born individual is featured on a circulation coin.

Alberta/Saskatchewan Centennial

Two commemorative twenty-five cent coins are issued to honour the centennials of Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

and Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

. For the first time ever, the public is given the opportunity to vote on the coin design. Two toll-free phone numbers (1-877-884-5550 for the Alberta Coin and 1-877-884-5557 for the Saskatchewan coin) were established for voting. There were four different Alberta designs to choose from and three different Saskatchewan designs to choose from. The four designs were titled:

1) Big Sky Country
2) Alberta’s Natural Beauty
3) A Dynamic Century
4) Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

There were three different Saskatchewan designs to choose from.

1) The Western Meadowlark
Western Meadowlark
Not to be confused with Eastern MeadowlarkThe Western Meadowlark is a medium-sized icterid bird, about 8.5 in long. It nests on the ground in open country in western and central North America. It feeds mostly on insects, but also seeds and berries...
2) Canada Geese over Wascana Lake
3) The Round Dance Celebration

The winners for Alberta and Saksatchewan were: Big Sky Country (designed by Michelle Grant) and the Western Meadowlark (designed by Paulette Sapergia).
A total of 20,640,000 Alberta coins and a total of 19,290,000 Saskatchewan coins were minted.

Breast Cancer

The world’s second coloured circulation coin was unveiled. The coin was meant to highlight awareness of breast cancer

Breast cancer

Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...

and was a twenty-five cent coin.

Lucky Loonie

The second Lucky Loonie coin is released. Like the first Lucky Loonie from
2004, a sterling silver numismatic version is featured as well.

10th Anniversary Toonie

The 10th Anniversary of the Toonie was unveiled at the Canadian Numismatic Association

Canadian Numismatic Association

The Royal Canadian Numismatic Association was founded in 1950. It is a nonprofit association for coin collectors and other people interested in Canadian numismatics. It has members throughout Canada and in other countries...

Annual Convention on July 21. The coin also featured the brand new Mint Mark (see below). To commemorate the Toonie’s Anniversary, a “Name the Bear” Contest was held with Canadians having the opportunity to vote for one of five names:

Churchill
Wilbert
Makwa
Sacha
Plouf

“Churchill” was selected as the winning name.

Mint Mark

The new mint logo (not a Mint Mark), a symbol of the Royal Canadian Mint’s reputation for high quality and innovation, was added to all Circulation Coins on the obverse (heads of the coin) side depicting Queen Elizabeth II. A Special Edition Uncirculated Set was also released with all the coins featuring the brand new Mint Mark, with a limited mintage of 30,000 and an issue price of $19.95.

Vancouver Olympics

To commemorate the 2010 Winter Olympics

2010 Winter Olympics

The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...

in Vancouver, British Columbia, the Royal Canadian Mint begins to release commemoratives for the event.

The circulation coins feature 5 twenty-five cent coins honouring the various winter games sports. Said sports include curling
Curling
Curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area. It is related to bowls, boule and shuffleboard. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones, also called "rocks", across the ice curling sheet towards the house, a...

, ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

, paralympic Curling, biathlon
Biathlon
Biathlon is a term used to describe any sporting event made up of two disciplines. However, biathlon usually refers specifically to the winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting...

, and alpine skiing
Alpine skiing
Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...
Four different series of numismatic coins are released. The first series are $25 dollar Hologram coins. These are the first-ever Olympic coins to have a hologram on them. The non-circulating legal tender commemorative coins will have a face value of $25, a Canadian first.
The second series have a face value of $75 coins. These are the first Royal Canadian Mint Olympic Coins
Royal Canadian Mint Olympic coins
-1976 Montreal Summer Games:Most numismatists agree that the first true numismatic collection was the Olympic Five and Ten Dollar coins for the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Starting in February 1973, the Royal Canadian Mint engaged in a very ambitious program...

to have selective colouring on them.
The third series were $300 Gold Coins and the outer rim of this coin features various faces looking at the inside of the coin.
The fourth series are one-kilogram coins. These are the first one kilogram coins to be released in the history of the Royal Canadian Mint
Royal Canadian Mint
The Royal Canadian Mint produces all of Canada's circulation coins, and manufactures circulation coins on behalf of other nations. The Mint also designs and manufactures: precious and base metal collector coins; gold, silver, palladium, and platinum bullion coins; medals, as well as medallions and...

. There is a silver version with a mintage of 1,200 and a gold version with a mintage of only 20.

List of recent issues

Please see Royal Canadian Mint Numismatic Coins for a complete listing

External links

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