Category Archives: Editorial

However, for the most part, the collecting hobby agreed that there were thousands of gold coins sitting around waiting to be sold. The concern was always what would happen if these ever entered the market. Now using the Royal Canadian Mint makes sense; it is a Crown corporation, so there is no way there can... Continue reading →

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... Continue reading →

By the end of this year, all of our notes will be printed on polymer, and “paper” money will be fast vanishing, the 1-cent coin will be gone, and virtually all of our coins will be less than 15 years old. I can’t think of a time since the days of Queen Victoria when our... Continue reading →

As I write this piece, the humble 1-cent coin sits silently on death row. By the time you read this, the Royal Canadian Mint and the coin-distribution system will no longer be shipping the coin. Not only that, but they will start recalling them, and business will be expected to round transactions off to the... Continue reading →

It seems that almost nobody had any strong objections. There was no public outcry, no desperate last-minute effort to keep the former workhorse of Canadian coins, and I have not even heard a single complaint at any of the stores where I have transacted business since Feb. 4. It seems that we collectors, who mostly... Continue reading →

While the digital version will be pretty much the same as the print version, except for hot links inside ads and editorial content, I do believe that electronic content offers a much better experience for the reader. I’m not talking about gimmicks, such as virtual reality games that almost nobody plays. I see opportunities for... Continue reading →

The truth is, if I had to pick the single most important change in the hobby, it would be the enthusiastic adoption of third-party certification. When I first came to CCN, certified coins were put in slabs, which had a negative connotation. Collectors smirked that coins would get resubmitted until they reached the highest plausible... Continue reading →

There is no doubt that the conflict was a watershed moment in Canadian history. Before the war, Upper Canada in particular was becoming more Americanized while north-bound trade was steadily growing. Some historians have argued that without the war, Canada would have eventually sought political union with its most significant trading partner. Ironically, the war... Continue reading →

The advantages for the Royal Canadian Mint are obvious: these coins are sold for way more than the cost of production, and the Mint controls the program. That means that it can make a really good profit on each coin, and it means that the Mint gets to decide what coins to produce, how many... Continue reading →