All four effigies of Queen Elizabeth used on our country’s coin since her coronation in 1953 are featured on both sides of a large 62.25-millimetre silver coin, now available as part of the Royal Canadian Mint’s September releases.
The five-ounce pure silver coin is the latest offering in the Queen Elizabeth II’s Reign collection. The 157.6-gram coin has a mintage of only 2,250 and a face value of $50.
The mint has released a series of coins honouring Queen Elizabeth II since the monarch died on Sept. 8, 2022. Designed by artist Anna Bucciarelli, the mint says the reverse design “presents an elegant retrospective of the Canadian coin effigies of “Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom, Canada and Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.” Marked by a small Tudor rose, the tribute obverse combines the four effigies. This obverse is available only on coins in the Reign collection.
Other September releases include:
• A more expansive ultra-high relief brings outstanding height and depth to the meticulously engraved portrait of the grizzly bear, which stands out against the forest backdrop. With a $200 face value, the 30-mm coin contains 31.16 grams of pure gold. The coin is designed by award-winning artist Emily Damstra. “View a great hunter in its Canadian habitat,” states the description on the gold coin. “Multiple frostings help create a more realistic rendering of both the grizzly bear and its surroundings.” Only 575 coins are available.
• The same grizzly bear design is available on a pure silver coin. With a face value of $20, the 36.15-mm silver coin weighs 31.39 grams and has a mintage of 6,000.
• From the mint’s Winnipeg facility comes coin No. 2 in the W Mint Mark series that celebrates Canada’s circulation coins. First launched in April with the polar bear “toonie,” the series’ second coin celebrates the “loonie.” The 38-mm silver coin features a tailored Specimen finish. The relief has a satin sheen, while the field’s textured appearance is the result of angled lines inspired by the Winnipeg mint’s pyramid-shaped building. Designed by Robert-Ralph Carmichael, the 31.39-gram coin has a mintage of 7,500. There are four other coins to be released in the series. The 50-cent coat of arms and 25-cent caribou are scheduled for 2024, while the 10-cent Bluenose and five-cent beaver will be released in 2025.
• An annual issue, the mint’s silver fractional sets are always popular with collectors; in fact, they sell out every year. With a mintage of only 3,000, the 2024 set offers five pure silver coins in one-ounce, half-ounce, quarter-ounce, 1/10-ounce, and 1/20-ounce sizes. The reverse features a classically styled portrait of a red maple (Acer rubrum) twig and leaves. Being the largest in the set, the one-ounce coin is enhanced with selective gold plating that highlights the maple leaves and the rim.
• Christmas and the holiday season are the themes of the next three releases, including “The Magic of the Season.” Artist Lisa Thomson-Khan created a Christmas Eve design, featuring “Santa Claus and his team of magical reindeer streaking across the night sky, en route to deliver gifts to the children of the world.” The coin’s reverse features a mix of engraving and festive colours, as well as a hidden moonlight effect. “While the festive colours are visible in daylight,” states the mint, “the black flashlight (included with each coin) activates a moonlight glow to help capture that magical ‘night before Christmas’ feeling.” With a face value of $20, the silver coins measure 38 mm and weigh 31.39 grams. The mintage is 7,500.
• The next holiday coin features lenticular technology, with interlacing images that create a sense of uninterrupted motion. Featuring a polar bear on a sleigh and a rabbit in front of the sleigh, tilting the coin sends this pair sliding down the hill. Designed by Darren Booth, the nickel-plated steel coin is 35 mm and weighs 12.3 grams. With a face value of 50 cents, the mintage is 30,000.
• The remaining September release is the annual Holiday Gift Card Set, containing five 2023-dated Canadian non-circulation coins. While four coins feature the traditional reverse designs, it does not include the classic loonie, but a festive moose specially struck for the 2023 set, which is not available on its own. The set has a mintage of 100,000.
For more details, visit the mint.ca. υ