Volume 51#11

September 10 – September 23, 2013

The Royal Canadian Mint’s new $20 Fine silver Maple Leaf combines Walter Ott’s classic design with ultra-high relief and the Mint’s new “vivid toning effect,” producing iridescent flashes of yellow, orange and red inspired by autumn sunlight filtering through a Canadian forest. The 2026 coin has a worldwide mintage of 11,000.

Nature’s creatures abundant on new issues

The Royal Canadian Mint’s September catalogue includes the corporation’s second barn owl coin. The new coin, the 12th in the Birds of Canada series, is a coloured 25-cent piece showing a bird in full flight in a rural setting. Designed by Trevor Tennant, the coin is struck on cupro-nickel blanks, with a diameter of 35 millimetres. The mintage is 17,500. Continue reading →

Regulars

Focus on Canadian paper money

Page 22

Are you buying or selling?

Page 28

Check out the shows in your area

Page 31

Editorial

Who knew? Circulating coins tiny ambassadors, too

For years, I have been preaching that the best way to attract new collectors is to give them varied pocket change, which they can collect for face value. To me, the reasons are obvious: zero risk, the fun of looking through coins, and the fact that it reaches all Canadians because circulating coins are everywhere. Sure the coins may not be in mint condition, but that only means a prospective collector can actually touch them without worrying about altering a pristine surface.

Continue reading →