1911 While the silver dollar was not struck for production in 1911, three trial strikes were produced by the
Royal Mint in London: two struck in silver and one in lead. Since these coins were unique and not intended for circulation, they have been classified as
pattern coins. One of the silver coins, owned by the
Royal Mint Museum, has been loaned to the Bank of Canada since 1976 and has been displayed in the
Bank of Canada Museum since 1980. The lead coin was not discovered until 1977, during an office move from Parliament Hill. It was then promptly moved to the Bank of Canada's National Currency Collection with its silver counterpart. The second 1911 silver dollar had belonged to
William Ellison-Macartney, deputy mint master of the Royal Mint. After he died in 1924, the coin was passed on to his three children, before eventually being sold to Blair A. Seaby in 1960. He went on to display the coin to the public for the first time at a Canadian numismatic convention in Sherbrooke that same year, and at an American numismatic convention in Boston a week later. The coin changed hands several more times, being sold to Anthony Carrato of Eagle Coin Company for US$160,000 in July 1979, then Joseph Carlton and David Hirschman of Carlton Numismatics Inc. for US$325,000. Eventually, the coin made its way back to Canada after being auctioned off for US$690,000 to George H. Cook, a renowned Canadian collector, on January 13, 2003. After his death in 2018, Cook's collection was auctioned off during the American Numismatic Association World's Fair of Money in Chicago, where it was bought one final time by Sandy Campbell and Ian Laing for $734,000 after a 20% buyer's fee. On some of the coins, a dot appears near the 7. This is attributed to an imperfection in the die. Six different varieties of the Pointed 7 exist. • Pointed 7 • Pointed 7 with a Double-Punched 4 • Pointed 7 with a dot near the 7 • Pointed 7 with a double punched HP under the effigy of His Majesty, King George VI • Pointed 7 with a triple punched HP under the effigy of His Majesty, King George VI • Pointed 7 with a quadruple punched HP under the effigy of His Majesty, King George VI (The HP is the initials of the designer: T.H. Paget)
Blunt seven A shorter 7 with the lower tail pointing almost straight down has been labelled as the blunt seven. The Arnprior type configurations tended to consist of 2 and ½ water lines at the right. Any trace of the bottom water line disqualified a coin from being considered an Arnprior type.
Origin of the Arnprior name In December 1955, the Royal Canadian Mint made up an order of 2,000 silver dollars for a firm in
Arnprior, Ontario. These coins had 2 and ½ water lines at the right end of the canoe. This was similar to the accidental disappearance of water lines on the versions from 1950 to 1951. The 1955 dollars caught the interest of many collectors and it was this version that led to the term Arnprior being applied to any dollar with an appearance of missing water lines. An even more collectible of the 1955 Arnprior, is given by the die break on the obverse legend, with the result being the joining of the T and the I in GRATIA.
No shoulder fold obverse An element that was common in every denomination of 1953 was the two obverses that existed. Said obverses are commonly identified as the No Shoulder Fold and the Shoulder Fold. The coinage for the year featured the new effigy of
Queen Elizabeth II. The sculptor was
Mary Gillick and she created a model with a relief that was too high. The centre portion of the effigy was to feature two lines on the shoulder. These lines were supposed to represent a fold in the Queen's gown. As these lines did not appear very well, it was commonly termed the No Shoulder Strap by many collectors. Later on in the year, the Royal Canadian Mint's Chief engraver
Thomas Shingles lowered the relief of the model and strengthened the shoulder and hair details. This modified obverse became known as the Shoulder Strap variety.
1957 Arnprior The 1957 dollar had a reverse that was considered an Arnprior. The reverse featured one water line to the right of the canoe.
1965 Although 1965 would mark a change in the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, the year would offer five different varieties of the dollar.
Variety 1 and 2 The small beads on the obverse of the coin define varieties 1 and 2. The rear jewel on Queen Elizabeth II's tiara is well attached. The 5 in 1965 has two varieties. There is a pointed 5 (the point is at the bottom) while there is another version with a blunt 5 (the bluntness is at the bottom of the 5 too).
Variety 3 and 4 The large beads on the obverse of the coin define varieties 3 and 4. The rear jewel on Queen Elizabeth II's tiara is well attached. The 5 in 1965 has two varieties. There is a pointed 5 (the point is at the bottom) while there is another version with a blunt 5 (the bluntness is at the bottom of the 5 too).
Variety 5 The obverse of variety 5 features medium beads. Unlike the other varieties, the 5 in 1965 is pointed. ==1982 planchet varieties==