First sesquicentennial coin struck by RCM

The Royal Canadian Mint has issued a $200 Proof gold coin—one of the first to commemorate Canada’s highly anticipated 150th anniversary.

The Dominion of Canada officially came into existence on July 1 with Sir John A. MacDonald serving as the new country’s inaugural prime minister. The Dominion’s coinage was first issued in 1870 in denominations of five-, 10-, 25-, and 50 cents (a one-cent coin would not be issued until 1876). Owing to its British roots, Canadian coins shared similar sizes and denominations with British coins. For example, the Canadian one-cent coin was the same size and value as the contemporary British half-penny, which measured 25.4 mm; similarly, Canada’s 25-cent coin was identical in size and value to a British shilling and equal in value to 12 British pence (or about 24 cents Cdn.). The coins’ designs featured the effigy of Queen Victoria on the obverse and the denomination, year-date and a crowned maple wreath on the reverse (although the reverse of the one-cent coin depicts a maple vine circlet).

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CONFEDERATION COMMEMORATION

The Mint is expected to issue of a series of commemorative circulation coins in honour of the upcoming sesquicentennial milestone.

The recently unveiled $200 Proof gold coin harkens back to the 1870s and Canada’s early coin designs. Tied by a bow at the bottom of the reverse, two crossed maple boughs curve upward along the coin’s rim. Its maple leaves point toward a current depiction of St. Edward’s Crown near the top. Engraved on the reverse is the face value, “200 DOLLARS”; the issuing country, “CANADA”; and the commemorative dates, “1867-2017”.

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The coin’s obverse portrays the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II as designed by Canadian artist Susanna Blunt.

These .999 Proof gold coins have a weight of 31.6 grams, a 30-mm diameter and a mintage of 250 pieces.

For more information about this $200 Proof gold coin, click here.

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