Coins of the Canadian dollar

There are six denominations of Canadian circulation coinage in production: 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, 50¢, $1, and $2. Officially they are each named according to their value (e.g. "10-cent piece"), but in practice only the 50-cent piece is known by that name. The three smallest coins are known by the traditional names "nickel" (5¢), "dime" (10¢), and "quarter" (25¢), and the one-dollar and two-dollar coins are called the "loonie" (a hypocorism of the loon depiction on the reverse) and the "toonie" (a portmanteau of "two" and "loonie") respectively. The production of the Canadian 1-cent piece (known as the "penny") was discontinued in 2012, as inflation had reduced its value significantly below the cost of production. Canadian coins have medallic orientation, like British or euro coins, and unlike U.S. coins, which have coin orientation. The 50¢ piece circulates much less than other Canadian coins. Between the years 2000 and 2007 the Royal Canadian Mint struck fewer than 16 million of them; by contrast, during the same period, over 2.25 billion quarters were released. This coin is sometimes called a "half-dollar". Other than the $2 coin (for which there is no American equivalent), the denominations of Canadian coinage correspond to those of United States coinage. The sizes of the coins other than the 50¢ piece are roughly equal to those of current U.S. coins, though this has not always been true. They have a different metallic composition and most of them are thinner, and thus weigh slightly less, than the analogous U.S. coins. The U.S. penny settled on its current size in 1857, whereas the Canadian penny was much larger () until 1920. Because they are easily mistaken for each other, U.S. and Canadian coins worth 5 cents, 10 cents, and 25 cents sometimes circulate in the other country. Due to the usually higher value of the U.S. dollar, it is common in Canada to accept U.S. coins at par or face value. Canadian coins are not commonly accepted in the U.S. but sometimes circulate in states that see many Canadian visitors. Their differing physical characteristics prevent them from being accepted interchangeably by most coin-operated machines. There was formerly some correspondence between the size of Canadian coins and British coins of similar value, leading to them sometimes being mistaken for the other due to the identical portrait of the monarch. For example, the large Canadian penny was identical in size and value to the contemporary British half-penny, which was in the Edward VII version, and slightly larger during Victoria's reign. Likewise, the Canadian quarter (23.81 mm diameter) was virtually identical in size and value to the British shilling – worth 12 British pence or about 24 Canadian cents, with a diameter. The Canadian 5¢ coins, until the larger nickel coins of 1922, were 15 mm silver coins quite different from the U.S. "Liberty head" nickels of 1883 to 1913, which were 21.2 mm and copper-nickel alloy, but more like the older U.S. half dimes. Developments in coinage The most significant recent developments in Canadian coinage were the introduction of $1 and $2 coins and the withdrawal of the one cent piece. The $1 coin (the "loonie") was released in 1987. The $1 banknote remained in issue and in circulation alongside the one-dollar coin for the next two years, until it was withdrawn in 1989. The coin was to be the voyageur-design silver (then nickel) dollar coins that had previously been in limited circulation. The dies were lost or stolen in November 1986, requiring a redesign. The new coin is colloquially called the "loonie", for the common loon on its reverse, and the name is frequently applied to the currency unit as well. It is made of nickel plated with aureate bronze. The $2 coin, carrying a polar bear, was introduced in 1996. It is usually called the "toonie" and is bimetallic. The $2 banknote was withdrawn at the same time that the coin was released. Unlike several U.S. attempts to introduce a dollar coin, the new coins were quickly accepted by the public, owing largely to the fact that the Bank of Canada and the government forced the switch by removing the $1 and $2 bills from circulation. Between 1997 and 2001, the $1 loon coin was not issued for general circulation. Due to the high demand for the $2 polar bear coin (mintages between 1997 and 2001 were as high as 29 million in 2000 alone), the $1 coin was only produced for the standard collector sets that were made available on an annual basis, such as the Uncirculated, O Canada, Specimen and Proof sets. On March 29, 2012, the Canadian government announced that the 1¢ coin would be retired. The Royal Canadian Mint stopped producing 1¢ coins in May 2012, and in February 2013 the Bank of Canada stopped distributing them, but the coins remain legal tender. Cash transactions are rounded to the nearest 5¢, while non-cash transactions (using cheques, credit cards, or debit cards) will continue to be rounded to the nearest 1¢. Production Canadian coins are issued by the Royal Canadian Mint and struck at their facilities in Winnipeg. All special wording on commemorative coins appears in both of Canada's languages, English and French. All of the standard wording on the reverse sides of non-commemorative coins is identical in both languages. On the obverse sides, the name and title of the Canadian Monarch appear in an abbreviated-Latin circumscription. On coins struck since November 2023, this reads "", but coins reading "" continue to circulate. The initials stand for ""; the entire phrases mean 'Charles III, by the grace of God, King' and 'Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, Queen'. The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics commemorative quarters do not have the inscription "", and they read "Canada Elizabeth II", along with the date of issue and Ilanaaq, the emblem of the games. ==History==

Coins of the Colonies Beginning in 1858, various colonies of British North America started issuing their own coins denominated in cents, featuring the likeness of Queen Victoria on the obverse. These replaced the sterling coins previously in circulation. The Province of Canada was the first to issue decimal coins. They were based on the value of the American dollar, due to an influx of American silver. Denominations issued were 1¢, 5¢, 10¢, and 20¢. The 1¢ coin was issued again in 1859, but it was very unpopular due to its extremely light weight. The coins had to be discounted by around 20% to get them into circulation. Other colonies that issued decimal coinage were New Brunswick and Nova Scotia both starting in 1861, Newfoundland in 1865, and Prince Edward Island in 1871. Many examples can be seen online via the Canadian Currency Museum. Queen Victoria coinage In 1867, the British parliament passed The British North America Act, 1867 (now known as the Constitution Act, 1867), uniting the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick into a single country. Coins of the three former colonies continued to circulate until 1870, with all being legal tender throughout the country. As other colonies subsequently joined Canada, they dropped their colonial coinage and adopted the national Canadian currency. In 1870, the first national coinage of the Dominion of Canada was issued in denominations of 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, and 50¢. A 1¢ coin was not issued until 1876. The initial issue of George V coinage is known as the "Godless" coinage, because the abbreviation "", (for "" or '[king] by the grace of God'), was omitted from the king's titles. When the public noticed this, there was a huge outcry at this breach of tradition, and the phrase was later restored. All the coins from the 1¢ to 50¢ were issued. The 50¢ is the scarcest of all the coins minted in 1911, with a mintage of 209,972. The Canadian Coin News publication printed an article showing a well-worn 1911 50¢ example that did have the "" abbreviation. This coin has not yet been certified as genuine, having been rejected by ICCS, the popular Canadian grading company. The 1911 pattern dollar coin was produced with the "" abbreviation on the two known silver examples and the one known example in lead. In 1920, the fineness of the silver coins was changed from .925 fine silver to .800 fine silver, and the size of the cent was reduced. In 2004, a "dot cent", as they are sometimes called, sold at auction for $207,000. The one-cent coin was sold again in the Canadiana sale for $400,000, while an example of the ten-cent piece with the dot sold for $184,000. The 25¢ coin, while not as rare as the one-cent and ten-cent pieces, is still a very difficult coin to find. Gold circulation coins Gold coins for circulation were issued from 1912 to 1914 only (earlier rejected "for fear of committing a breach of the Royal Prerogative"), though sovereigns, to British standards, were issued in small quantities for some years. The minting of gold coins for circulation ceased due to the onset of the First World War, when the government of Canada recovered the majority of circulating gold coins to finance the war. Reissue plans were dropped in 1928. The portrait of Charles III was designed by Steven Rosati, who was one of 350 artists to submit an entry to the Royal Canadian Mint for the portrait design. The first strike of coins bearing the design were loonies pressed after the unveiling of the design on November 14, 2023; they were circulated in December 2023. ==Other numismatic details==

Special edition coins Although the Mint has produced many special edition coins in recent years, Canada does have a history of such coins. From 1943 to 1945, the Mint issued the "Victory nickel" to promote the Canadian war effort. In 1951 a circulating commemorative coin, a 5-cent piece for the bicentennial of the discovery of the element nickel, was released. In 1967, all Canadian coins were issued with special reverses to celebrate the Canadian Centennial. Six years later, a "Mountie quarter" was issued in 1973 to commemorate the centennial of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. In recent years, the Mint has issued several series of coins with special reverses. Most of them have been 25¢ coins, particularly in the years 1999–2001. There were also versions of the $2 coin commemorating the founding of Nunavut, and another with a family of polar bears; there have been several variants of the $1 coin, one of which featured the Canadian peacekeepers' monument in Ottawa to commemorate the award of the Nobel Peace Prize. A commemorative Terry Fox $1 coin began circulating on April 4, 2005. On October 21, 2004, the Royal Canadian Mint unveiled a 25¢ poppy coin. This coin features a red poppy (Papaver rhoeas) that is coloured red, embedded in the centre of a maple leaf above a banner reading "Remember – Souvenir". It is the world's first coloured coin. While some countries' mints have produced colourized coins for market to collectors, this is the first colourized coin in general circulation in the world. The Mint states that, with normal wear and tear, the colour should remain for a number of years, although this claim was quickly disproved. The colouration compounds are attached to the metal on a specially prepared 'dimpled' section of the coin and seem to come off easily if deliberately rubbed. The coin will retain its full value even if the red poppy has worn off or been removed; however, it is now expected that fully coloured specimens will become collectible in the future. In an isolated incident in the United States these coins were briefly reported as a possible 'spy tool' by some US Defense Contractors unfamiliar with the odd-seeming coin and raised espionage warnings until the situation was clarified. On May 4, 2005, the Mint unveiled a new "Victory nickel", reminiscent of the original issued during the Second World War. The new coin commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory in World War II. A mintage of 59,258,000 Victory nickels were produced and treated as regular circulation coins. In 2005, 25¢ and $5 coins commemorating the centennial of two of Canada's provinces were released: the coin for Alberta represents oil exploration in that province; the coin for Saskatchewan depicts a singing meadowlark and a grain elevator. Later the same year, the Mint later issued a Year Of The Veteran coin to honour military veterans, again in the 25¢ denomination. On February 21, 2007, the mint announced that they would be producing a 100-kilogram coin the size of a large pizza with a face value of $1 million. This new coin bears the highest face value in the world, using approximately $2 million of 99.999% pure bullion, and five were produced and sold to investors. Alberta.jpg|The Alberta Centennial coin 100kgCanadianGoldOnPedestal.png|$1M 100 kg gold coin Urban legends Several urban legends and other false information have circulated regarding Canadian coinage. • The centre can pop out of a toonie. This is in fact true, but only for coins struck in 1996. Many toonies in the first shipment of the coins were defective, and could separate if struck hard or frozen, as the centre piece would shrink more than the outside. This problem was quickly corrected, and the initial wave of "toonie popping" blew over a few months after the coin's introduction. • The 50¢ piece is no longer minted and/or has been withdrawn from circulation. The 50¢ coin circulates so little that many people have never personally seen or handled one. Shop proprietors have been known to refuse to accept them as payment because they do not recognize them as Canadian currency. However, the RCM continues to produce the 50¢ coin annually for coin collections such as the Uncirculated, Specimen, and Proof Sets. Although the RCM does produce the coin in small numbers (in 2005, the mintage for the coins was 200,000, and the coins were not produced for circulation in 2003 and 2004); most of them are purchased by coin collectors. The remainder go to banks, though most do not give them out unless the customer specifically requests so. Given enough notice, any bank should be able to obtain them in a significant quantity for their customers. The 50¢ coin is also commonly handed out as regular change at some Canada Post locations. An attempt at widening the circulation of the 50-cent piece was made in 2002 with the release of a specially designed coin marking the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, which was circulated through the Laura Secord Chocolates store chain in Canada. • ''The crown is wrong in the Queen's portrait.'' When the new coin portrait was first issued in 1990 (see above), a legend surfaced that the artist had simply added the image of a crown to a portrait of the Queen, and that she was never meant to be seen wearing that headgear. This is false; she posed personally for the portrait wearing one of her usual crowns. Effigies 1953 – The coronation of a new monarch meant a new effigy. Due to an issue with the portrait model for the new Queen Elizabeth, two obverse varieties, termed the "no shoulder fold" and the "shoulder fold" obverses were found in circulation during 1953. The portrait model was prepared in England by sculptor Mary Gillick. The relief of this model was too high. This affected the new effigy because the centre portion containing two lines on the shoulder (representing a fold in the Queen's gown) did not strike up well on the coins. This obverse had been termed the "no shoulder strap" variety by numismatists. Later in 1953, Mint authorities decided to correct the defects in the obverse design. Thomas Shingles, chief engraver of the RCM, was summoned to lower the relief of the model. The result was that he had strengthened the shoulder and hair detail. This revised obverse (often called "the shoulder strap" variety due to the resemblance of the lines to a strap) was introduced before the end of the year. This was accepted as the standard obverse. The no shoulder fold obverse was used to produce some of the 1954 cents for the proof-like sets and a small quantity of 1955 cents for circulation. The 1955 no shoulder fold variety is the most desired by collectors. 1965 – Starting in 1965, the effigy of the Queen underwent the first of three changes. This new obverse featured the Queen with more mature facial features. The wearing of a tiara was the other aspect of the new effigy. 1990 – A new obverse debuted with the Queen now wearing a diamond diadem and jewellery. Although the effigy changed in 2003, this portrait with a diadem is still used on all Chinese Lunar New Year coins. 2003 – To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the coronation of the Queen, a new obverse was introduced. The unique feature of this effigy is that the Queen is without headdress. This marked the first time that the effigy of a monarch did not wear headdress since Elizabeth's father, King George VI, a half-century earlier. Mint mark In an effort to build the brand, the Royal Canadian Mint implemented a policy in which all its circulation and collector coins would bear a new mint mark. Unveiled at the Canadian Numismatic Association convention in Niagara Falls, Ontario, in July 2006, the mint mark was a reproduction of the Royal Canadian Mint logo. The first circulation coin to bear the new mint mark was the 10th anniversary $2 coin, illustrated by Tony Bianco. This meant that the "P" mint mark which recognized the plating technology would no longer be used. For collectors, the first collector coin to feature the new mint mark was the Snowbirds coin and stamp set. Records In the Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins, the 1911 $1 coin is valued at $1,250,000. There are only 2 known specimens in sterling silver, and one specimen in lead. One of the silver specimens and the lead specimen are located at the Bank of Canada's currency museum, while the other is in a private collection. The rarity stems from the fact the federal government chose not to proceed with producing a "silver dollar" in 1911. The 1911 coin sets were originally planned to include the $1, but the sets came with an empty gap where the $1 coin was supposed to be. Canada didn't issue a $1 circulation coin until 1935, when it issued a circulating dollar commemorating George V's Silver Jubilee. Among numismatists, the 1921 50-cent coin is considered the rarest Canadian circulation coin and has gained the moniker "the king of Canadian coins". A high-grade specimen sold in 2023 for $160,480 dollars. Despite a mintage of 206,398 coins, there was a very low demand for 50-cent coins in the 1920s and so they were not circulated. When demand for the coins returned in 1929, mint master John Honeyford Campbell ordered the coins melted and re-struck to avoid confusion or accusations of counterfeiting. Approximately 75 of the coins are thought to have survived, these being a mix of specimen set and circulation set coins sold to visitors to the mint in 1921. Victory nickel (Tombac 1943–1944; steel 1944–1946) From 1943 to 1946, the mint produced 5-cent coins of the "Victory" type to help stimulate Canada's war effort. These coins were designed by Thomas Shingles and incorporated the famous V sign from Winston Churchill, along with a torch symbolizing the sacrifices made during the war. The edge of the coin was engraved with a Morse code message spelling out "We Win When We Work Willingly". In 1942, the mint began producing nickels using tombac, an 88% copper, 12% zinc alloy. Previous nickels were made of 100% pure nickel. This change was made due to high demand for the element in war production. The design was partially reused in 2020, appearing on special coloured and uncoloured 2-dollar coins commemorating the 75th anniversary of the end of the war. ==References==