Volume 50#20

January 15 – January 28, 2013

The Royal Canadian Mint’s November releases feature an assortment of gold and silver coins celebrating Canadian symbols, history and cultural traditions. Highlights include Lady Peace, Canada’s coat of arms, a one-kilogram silver Maple Leaf and gold issues featuring the yin-yang symbol and Lunar Year of the Goat. (RCM image)

Fiji unveils made-in-Canada circulating coinage

The Reserve Bank of Fiji has rolled out the island nation’s newest coins, all made in Canada. The new coins, in values of 5, 10, 20, and 50 cents as well as $1 and $2, are made using the Royal Canadian Mint’s plating process. The coins, for the most part, feature local flora and fauna. The $2 coin replaces the $2 bank-note. The Government of Fiji approved eliminating the note in favour of the coin in 2011. That year it also approved the new coin designs, which are the first Fijian coins to not feature an effigy of Queen Elizabeth II. Continue reading →

Features

Coin Show started on a ‘whim,’ host says

Page 8

Regulars

Focus on Canadian paper money

Page 22

Check out the shows in your area

Page 27

Are you buying or selling?

Page 30

Editorial

Hobby can benefit from penny’s doom

The impending removal of the 1-cent coin from circulation, while inevitable, is still lamentable for coin collectors. For the first time in living memory, an entire coin denomination will cease to exist. It may be a bit of a stretch to compare this with the introduction of decimal currency of the 1850s, but in the more than 150 years since decimal coins became legal tender, there has always been a 1-cent coin. I remember assembling date sets of 1-cent coins out of the family penny hoard. The collection was only worth face value, but it was fun and may in some way contribute to where I am now. It is a memory I am sure most of my readers share. But some of the talk surrounding the coin is just plain foolishness.

Continue reading →