The Royal Canadian Mint has earned international acclaim at the 2025 Mint Directors Conference (MDC), held April 29 in Cape Town, South Africa, where it received two prestigious awards recognizing its excellence in coin design and innovation.
The Mint’s 2024 $50 pure silver coin celebrating the Year of the Dragon was named Best Commemorative Silver Coin, while its research collaboration with McGill University in Montreal, Que., on an environmentally responsible gold refining method earned the award for Best Collaboration.
“The Royal Canadian Mint is passionate about innovating to keep demonstrating the excellence and artistry of our world-famous coin products, as well as the sustainability of our processes,” said Marie Lemay, President and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint. “To be recognized in two award categories by the Mint Directors Conference judges is a tremendous peer endorsement of our commitment to finding new ways to delight our customers while finding more caring and sustainable ways to continue leading the global minting community.”
The award-winning coin, designed by Canadian artist Simon Ng, pushes the boundaries of minting with an Extraordinarily High Relief (EHR) engraving that reaches an impressive height of 4.7 millimetres. The reverse features the Wood Dragon, the fifth sign of the Chinese zodiac, moving through the clouds of a night sky illuminated by the moon. Its tail curls to form the lucky number eight, which symbolizes prosperity and fortune in Chinese culture. A laser-engraved pattern framing the design represents the wood element of the dragon’s zodiac year.
In a unique technical and artistic achievement, the obverse offers a rear view of the same scene, also in EHR. Above the dragon appears the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt, accompanied by four small pearls that represent the four different effigies of the Queen used on Canadian coins during her reign. The coin also bears the double date of her reign, marking her lasting legacy.
Alongside its numismatic artistry, the Mint’s commitment to sustainable innovation was recognized through its partnership with the Department of Chemistry at McGill University. The collaboration aims to replace the traditional Miller chlorination process used in gold refining—a method that relies on chlorine gas—with a safer, non-toxic alternative that uses a mild reagent to catalyze a chemical reaction, yielding pure gold in soluble form.
“At a lab scale, this process has demonstrated the ability to deliver pure gold in a way that is significantly less energy-intensive and safer for people and the environment,” the Mint stated. “This promising method builds on previous work undertaken in 2019, when the Mint introduced acid-less separation (ALS) technology that reduced chlorine use by more than 50 per cent at its Ottawa refinery.”
The Mint Directors Conference is the global minting industry’s leading forum, held every two years. Its Coin Awards recognize outstanding achievements in the design, production, packaging, and distribution of both circulating and commemorative coins.
For more information about the Royal Canadian Mint and its award-winning products, visit: www.mint.ca