Canada gold dollar coin value

The Million Dollar Coin – a true milestone in minting

Incredible, but true: in 2007 the Royal Canadian Mint produced the world's first million dollar coin. The 100 kg, 99999 pure gold bullion coin with a $1 million face value was originally conceived as a unique showpiece to promote the Mint's new line of 99999 pure 1 oz Gold Maple Leaf bullion coins. After several interested buyers came forward, the Mint decided to make a very limited quantity available for sale. To date, five of these majestic gold bullion coins, weighing 3,215 troy ounces each, have been purchased by investors from Canada and abroad.

In October 2007, the Million Dollar Coin was certified by Guinness World Records to be the world's largest gold coin. The coins are manufactured at the Mint's Ottawa facility, where the Mint operates world-class gold and silver refineries, securely stores gold bullion and mints all Royal Canadian Mint gold bullion products and collector coins.

The reverse features an elegant, hand-polished maple leaf design by Royal Canadian Mint artist and senior engraver Stan Witten, and the obverse bears the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by celebrated Canadian portrait artist Susanna Blunt.

Why did the Royal Canadian Mint make the world's purest and largest gold bullion coin? Because we can.

Specifications
Face value: $1,000,000
Composition: 99999 fine gold
Weight (in troy oz.): 3215
Weight (kg): 100

Definition of 99999 purity

Gold (Au) which is 99.999% pure is defined as having a total of less than 10 parts per million of the following elements: Ag, Al, As, Bi, Cr, Cu, Fe, In, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Pd, Pt, Sn, Si, Ti, Zn and Zr. This refers to the bulk material below the coin surface.

Canadian Gold Coins Overview

Canada is a land of scenic beauty and has an abundance of natural resources. Many of Canada’s gold coins are designed to honor the nation’s rich landscape, its wildlife and its heritage. If you are looking to acquire gold coins with beautiful design work, Canadian gold coins may be an excellent choice. These gold coins come in various weights and purities and can make a great addition to any portfolio or coin collection. Some Canadian gold coins are produced in limited mintages, also giving them the potential for collectibility value.

The Royal Canadian Mint produces some of the finest gold coin products anywhere in the world. The mint struck its first coin as an arm of the British Royal Mint in 1908. In 1931, the mint was passed into Canadian hands, making it a wholly-owned Canadian institution. The mint’s beginnings coincided with growing gold production in the Yukon and British Columbia. The mint’s original refinery was completed in 1911. A new refinery would later replace the original in 1936, and that refinery is still in operation today.

The Royal Canadian Mint produces numerous bullion coins as well as circulation coinage and numismatics. The mint offers many different types of collectible coin and coin sets, and produces not only bullion coins but proof finishes as well. The mint has built a well-deserved reputation for producing products of the highest quality standards and is also recognized for the beauty of its products. Canadian gold coins may be of particular interest to collectors looking to diversify their holdings with different designs and coins of higher purity levels. With some coins containing 999.99 percent fine gold, the mint produces some of the purest gold coins anywhere in the world.

A prime example of the quality and craftsmanship that The Royal Canadian Mint has come to be known for is the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf Coin series. A 1 ounce Canadian Gold Maple Leaf features the iconic maple leaf symbol, and since 1982 has contained 1 troy ounce of 999.9 percent fine gold. In addition to the maple leaf design, these coins feature a profile portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Canadian Gold Maple Leafs are also available in smaller weights. These smaller sizes include 1/10th ounce, ¼ ounce and ½ ounce. Due to their 999.9 percent fine gold content, these Canadian gold coins may be eligible for purchase in an IRA account. Of course, you should consult your tax professional before purchasing for eligibility and rules.

Another example of Canadian gold coin design work and artistry is the Canadian Gold Elk Coin. This gold coin is also produced by the Royal Canadian Mint and features the iconic elk on its reverse as well as the profile portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse. These coins carry a face value of $200 (CAD) and are considered good, legal tender. These coins are some of the purest anywhere in the world, with 999.99 percent fine gold.

Canadian $1 coin

This article is about the current Canadian one-dollar coin. For the old dollar coin struck from 1935 to 1986, see Voyageur dollar. For the Canadian dollar as a currency, see Canadian dollar. For other uses, see Looney (disambiguation).

The loonie (French: huard), formally the Canadian one-dollar coin, is a gold-coloured coin of the Canadian dollar that was introduced in 1987 and is produced by the Royal Canadian Mint at its facility in Winnipeg. The most prevalent versions of the coin show a common loon, a bird found throughout Canada, on the reverse and Queen Elizabeth II, the nation's head of state, on the obverse. Various commemorative and specimen-set editions of the coin with special designs replacing the loon on the reverse have been minted over the years.

The coin's outline is an 11-sidedReuleaux polygon. Its diameter of 26.5 mm and its 11-sidedness matched that of the already-circulating Susan B. Anthony dollar in the United States, and its thickness of 1.95 mm was a close match to the latter's 2.0 mm. Its gold colour differed from the silver-coloured Anthony dollar; however, the succeeding Sacagawea and Presidential dollars matched the loonie's overall hue. Other coins using a non-circular curve of constant width include the 7-sided Britishtwenty pence and fifty pence coins (the latter of which has similar size and value to the loonie, but is silver in colour).

After its introduction, the coin became a metonym for the Canadian dollar: media often discuss the rate at which the loonie is trading against other currencies. The nickname loonie became so widely recognized that in 2006, the Royal Canadian Mint secured the rights to it.^[1] When the Canadian two-dollar coin was introduced in 1996, it was in turn nicknamed the "toonie" (a portmanteau of "two" and "loonie").

Background[edit]

Canada first minted a silver dollar coin in 1935 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of George V's reign as king.^[2] The voyageur dollar, so named because it featured an Indigenous person and a French voyageur paddling a canoe on the reverse, was minted in silver until 1967, after which it was composed primarily of nickel.^[3] The coins did not see wide circulation, mainly due to their size and weight; the nickel version weighed 15.6 grams (0.55 oz) and was 32.1 millimetres (1.26 in) in diameter,^[4] and was itself smaller than the silver version.^[5]

By 1982, the Royal Canadian Mint had begun work on a new composition for the dollar coin that it hoped would lead to increased circulation.^[4] At the same time, vending machine operators and transit systems were lobbying the Government of Canada to replace the dollar banknotes with more widely circulating coins. A Commons committee recommended in 1985 that the dollar bill be eliminated despite a lack of evidence that Canadians would support the move.^[6] The government argued that it would save between $175 million and $250 million over 20 years by switching from bills that had a lifespan of less than a year to coins that would last two decades.^[7]

Introduction[edit]

The government announced on March 25, 1986, that the new dollar coin would be launched the following year as a replacement for the dollar bill, which would be phased out.^[8] It was expected to cost $31.8 million to produce the first 300 million coins, but through seigniorage (the difference between the cost of production and the coin's value), expected to make up to $40 million a year on the coins. From the proceeds, a total of $60 million over five years was dedicated toward funding the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.^[9]

The failure of the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin in the United States had been considered and it was believed Americans refused to support the coin due to its similarity to their quarter coin and its lack of aesthetic appeal.^[6] In announcing the new Canadian dollar coin, the government stated it would be the same overall size as the Susan B. Anthony coin – slightly larger than a quarter – to allow for compatibility with American manufactured vending machines, but would be eleven-sided and gold-coloured.^[8]

It was planned that the coin would continue using the voyageur theme of its predecessor, but the master dies that had been struck in Ottawa were lost in transit en route to the Mint's facility at Winnipeg.^[10] A Commons committee struck to investigate the loss discovered that the Mint had no documented procedures for transport of master dies and that it had shipped them via a local courier in a bid to save $43.50. It was also found to be the third time that the Mint had lost master dies within five years.^[11] An internal review by the Royal Canadian Mint argued that while a policy existed to ship the obverse and reverse dies separately, the new coin dies were packaged separately but were part of the same shipment. The Mint also disagreed with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's contention that the dies were simply lost in transit, believing instead that they were stolen.^[12] The dies were never recovered.^[10]

Fearing the possibility of counterfeiting, the government approved a new design for the reverse, replacing the voyageur with a Robert-Ralph Carmichael design of a common loon floating in water.^[10] The coin was immediately nicknamed the "loonie" across English Canada, and became known as a "huard", French for "loon", in Quebec.^[7] The loonie entered circulation on June 30, 1987, as 40 million coins were introduced into major cities across the country.^[13] Over 800 million loonies had been struck by the coin's 20th anniversary.^[14]

After a 21-month period in which the loonie and $1 note were produced concurrently with each other, the Bank of Canada ceased production of the dollar banknote. The final dollar bills were printed on June 30, 1989.^[15] Initial support for the coin was mixed,^[16] but withdrawing the banknote forced acceptance of the coin.^[17]

The loonie has subsequently gained iconic status within Canada,^[14] and is now regarded as a national symbol.^[18] The term "loonie" has since become synonymous with the Canadian dollar itself.^[19] The town of Echo Bay, Ontario, home of Robert-Ralph Carmichael, erected a large loonie monument in his honour in 1992 along the highway, similar to Sudbury's 'Big Nickel'.^[20]

Lucky loonie[edit]

The 2010 Olympic "lucky" loonie

Officials for the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics invited the National Hockey League's ice making consultant, Dan Craig, to oversee the city's E Center arena, where the ice hockey tournament was being held. Craig invited a couple of members from the ice crew in his hometown of Edmonton to assist. One of them, Trent Evans, secretly placed a loonie at centre ice. He originally placed a dime, but added the loonie after the smaller coin quickly vanished as the ice surface was built up.^[21] He placed the coins after realizing there was no target at centre ice for referees to aim for when dropping the puck for a faceoff. A thin yellow dot was painted on the ice surface over the coins, though the loonie was faintly visible to those who knew to look for it.^[22]

Keeping the coin a secret, Evans told only a few people of its placement and swore them to secrecy. Among those told were the players of the men's and women's teams.^[22] Both Canadian teams went on to win gold medals. Several members of the women's team kissed the spot where the coin was buried following their victory.^[21] After the men won their final, the coin was dug up and given to Wayne Gretzky, the team's executive-director, who revealed the existence of the "lucky loonie" at a post-game press conference.^[23]

The lucky loonie quickly became a piece of Canadian lore.^[24] The original lucky loonie was donated to the Hockey Hall of Fame,^[25] and Canadians have subsequently hidden loonies at several international competitions.^[26] Loonies were buried in the foundations of facilities built for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.^[27]

Capitalizing on the tradition, the Royal Canadian Mint has released a commemorative edition "lucky loonie" for each Olympic Games since 2004.^[26]

Composition[edit]

The weight of the coin was originally specified as 108 grains, equivalent to 6.998 grams.^[28] The coin's diameter is 26.5 mm.^[29]

When introduced, loonie coins were made of aureate, a bronze-electroplatednickel combination. Beginning in 2007, some loonie blanks also began to be produced with a cyanide-free brass plating process. In the spring of 2012, the composition switched to multi-ply brass-plated steel. As a result, the weight dropped from 7.00 to 6.27 grams.^[30] This has resulted in the 2012 loonie not being accepted in some vending machines.^[31] The Toronto Parking Authority estimates that at about $345 per machine, it will cost about $1 million to upgrade almost 3,000 machines to accept the new coins. The Mint states that multi-ply plated steel technology, already used in Canada's smaller coinage, produces an electromagnetic signature that is harder to counterfeit than that for regular alloy coins; also, using steel provides cost savings and avoids fluctuations in price or supply of nickel.^[32]

On April 10, 2012, the Royal Canadian Mint announced design changes to the loonie and toonie, which include new security features.^[33][34]

Commemorative editions[edit]

Alongside the regular minting of the loonie with the standard image of the common loon on the coin's reverse, the Royal Canadian Mint has also released commemorative editions of the one-dollar coin for a variety of occasions. These coins have a circulation-grade finish and have been made available to the public in five-coin packs and in 25-coin rolls in addition to being released directly into circulation.

Terry Fox loonie[edit]

The Terry Fox Loonie was unveiled in 2005 and designed by Senior Engraver Stanley Witten.^[51][52] The coin depicts the Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist Terry Fox.^[53]

Following his design of the 2005 Terry Fox loonie, Witten told the Ottawa Citizen that "while sculpting the design, I wanted to capture Terry fighting the elements, running against the wind, towering over wind-bent trees on a lonely stretch of Canadian wilderness."^[51]

Specimen set editions[edit]

In 1997, 2002, and each year since 2004, the Royal Canadian Mint has issued a one-dollar coin that depicts a different and unique image of a bird on the coin's reverse.^[54] These special loonies have limited mintages and are available only in the six-coin specimen sets.

First strikes[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Footnotes

Bibliography

• Cross, W. K., ed. (2011), Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins; Volume One, Numismatic Issues 2012 (66th ed.), Toronto: The Charlton Press, ISBN 

External links[edit]

Canadian gold coin

Value	1000000Canadian dollar
Mass	100,000 g
Diameter	530 mm
Composition	999.99/1000 gold
Gold	3,215 troy oz
Years of minting	1
Mintage	6
Design	Effigy of Queen Elizabeth II
Designer	Susanna Blunt
Design date	2003
Design	Hand-polished stylized maple leaf
Designer	Stanley Witten

The Big Maple Leaf (BML) is a $1 million (CAD) gold coin weighing 100 kilograms (220 lb) (3,215 troy ounces). A set of six^[1] of these coins was produced by the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) in 2007, at their Ottawa facility where the first BML produced remains in storage. As of March 2017^[update], the market value of a single Big Maple Leaf had reached approximately $4 million (USD).^[2] On 27 March 2017, one of the coins was stolen from a Berlin museum.

The Big Maple Leaf remained the largest gold coin ever minted until 2011, when the 1 tonne Australian Gold Nugget ("Gold Kangaroo") was minted.^[3]

Description[edit]

A Big Maple Leaf measures 2.8 centimetres (1.1 in) thick and 50 centimetres (20 in) in diameter and is 999.99/1000 pure. The obverse of the BML shows Queen Elizabeth II as she has appeared on Canadian coinage since 2003^[update],^[4] when Susanna Blunt's design became the third iteration of the queen's effigy to appear on coinage, (the others were 1965, and 1990). Blunt's design shows the queen in maturing dignity, without a tiara or crown, (only one other RCM design ever had the monarch not wearing a crown).^[5] The reverse design is the stylized maple leaf by RCM artist and senior engraver: Stan Witten.^[6][7]

Theft of one coin[edit]

In the early hours of 27 March 2017, a Big Maple Leaf was stolen from the Münzkabinett (coin cabinet) of the Bode Museum in Berlin, Germany.^[1] The cabinet is known for its huge collection of coins – more than 500,000 pieces, among them more than 100,000 Greek and 50,000 Roman ones – though only a tiny fraction of these coins are shown at exhibits.

A spokesman for the Royal Canadian Mint said "...the stolen coin does not belong to the mint. After creating the original (which is in storage in Ottawa), the mint manufactured five more that were sold to interested private individuals."^[1] The coin was lent to the Bode Museum in 2010 by private owner Boris Fuchsmann,^[8] and was displayed there until it was stolen.^[9]

In July 2017, police raids took place and arrests were made in connection with the theft. The suspects come from a large Arab family notorious for organised crime. Berlin Police assume that the coin was damaged during the theft when it was dropped from the train tracks onto the street.^[9] The whereabouts of the gold coin remain unknown.^[10] Investigators do not expect to recover the coin as they found gold dust on seized clothing and a car and suspect the robbers may have melted the coin down.^[11][12]

In January 2019, a trial in a juvenile court against four suspects began. Two brothers, Ahmed and Wayci Remmo, and their cousin Wissam Remmo, all belonged to a Berlin crime family of Lebanese origin known to local police as the Remmo-Clan [de].^[13] The fourth person, Denis W., was a school friend of the Remmo's and an employee of the Bode Museum. Denis was found guilty of advising the others on the museum's safety protocols. The trial ended in February of 2020 with Ahmed and Wissam being sentenced to 4 and a half years and Denis being sentenced to 3 years 4 months, the lenient sentencing being a result of them being relatively young (Ahmed and Wissam having been 18 and 20, respectively) during the crime. The fourth defendant, Wayci Remmo was acquitted due to inconclusive evidence.^[14] The judge ordered the seizure of 3.4 million Euros from the defendants.^[15]

Fuchsmann's insurance paid only 20% of the coin's value, arguing that negligence by the museum was to blame for the loss. After a lawsuit, the insurance company was ordered to pay 50% of the value.^[16]

References[edit]

External links[edit]