Production On May 4, 1910, the Canadian government passed an amendment to the
Currency Act (Bill 195) which, among other things, called for the requirement of a Canadian silver dollar.
James Bonar, Deputy Master of the
Royal Mint, had ordered the master dies for this new dollar on November 10, 1910. Production of the dies was delayed, and they were not delivered to the Mint until nearly a year later. By the time the dies arrived,
Sir Robert Borden had won his Canadian election, and cancelled the production of the silver dollar. While no official reason was given from the Borden government about the cancellation, a letter from Bonar attributes the coin's removal to the absence of a reference to God (), which created controversy among Canadians at the time. Three trial strikes of silver dollars were produced in 1911 by the Royal Mint in London: two struck in silver, and one in lead. One of the silver coins, owned by the Royal Mint Museum, has been loaned to the Bank of Canada since 1976, while the lead coin was discovered during a move in 1977. The two were put into the National Currency Collection of the Bank of Canada, and have been on display in the
Bank of Canada Museum since 1980.
George V, Silver Jubilee Commemorative Coin In 1935, a commemorative silver dollar was struck for the
Silver Jubilee of George V (the 25th year of his reign) This coin was the first Canadian 1-dollar coin issued for circulation
Struck in silver The issue was generally considered a success, and beginning in 1936, the silver dollar (in .800 fine silver) was struck more-or-less annually as a regular issue for general circulation, with the same reverse design as in 1935. Although commemorative dollars were struck for circulation for the visit of
King George VI in 1939, no regular-issue dollars were struck that year, as well as until the end of World War II in 1945. Thereafter, voyageur dollars were struck each year through 1966, except in years when a commemorative dollar was struck for circulation (e.g. 1939, 1949, 1958, 1964). In 1967, a special "flying goose" design was struck for the
Canadian Centennial.
Struck in nickel Beginning in 1968, following the 1967
Canadian Centennial series, the voyageur dollar design resumed. It was now struck in pure nickel, following the decision to debase Canada's coinage from silver to nickel. The change to this harder metal led to the diameter of the coin being reduced from 36 mm to 32 mm, as it made minting considerably easier. To encourage circulation, the size was reduced, the colour was changed, and the
one-dollar note was eliminated from circulation. Originally, the plans called for the voyageur design to be continued on the new gold-coloured dollar coin. However, the set of
dies depicting the design was lost in transit between the Ottawa mint to the Winnipeg mint. To eliminate the risk of counterfeiting, an alternate design submitted by
Robert-Ralph Carmichael in a 1978 coin design contest, featuring a
loon, was used. This became known as the
loonie. ==Circulation figures==