Royal Canadian Mint | mint | www.metalmarket.eu
Royal Canadian Mint
History of creation
In the 19th century, most Canadian coins were minted by London's Royal Mint and Birmingham's operating Heaton Mint. Everything changed on January 2, 1908 with the establishment of the Ottawa branch of the British Royal Mint. Sussex Drive was chosen as the location for the branch, where the mint still operates today.
In its early days, the mint primarily minted gold sovereigns (the famous British bullion coins) and Canadian coins, and also refined gold. The business was interrupted for a time by the outbreak of World War I, which forced a change in the business model and the start of production of components necessary for the manufacture of weapons by Great Britain.
An extremely important date in the history of today's Royal Canadian Mint is December 1, 1931. It was at this time that the mint was officially transferred to Canada and its subordination to the Canadian Ministry of Finance was established. In the late 1960s., or, more precisely, on April 1, 1969, the mint became a crown corporation - i.e., a government organization with both public-political and commercial goals.
Only a few years later, in 1974, it was decided to open a second manufacturing plant in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which has been supporting the production of national coins since its inception. This is where all circulating coins are minted, while numismatic coins are minted at the main office.
In its long history, Royal Canadian Mint has had the opportunity to mint coins for more than 80 countries.
Curiosity
First of all, those that do not have adequate production capacity or simply do not have their own mints. Royal Canadian Mint's longest running contract is with Barbados. With which specific countries did the mint cooperate? The best way to find out is to visit the mint. Driving towards it, one passes the so-called parade of flags, which represent all the countries for which the mint executes or has executed orders in the past.
Production volume
Royal Canadian Mint mints both investment and circulation coins, hence millions of coins leave its warehouses each year. The Winnipeg plant in particular has an impressive production capacity. Although it was established in 1976, thanks to numerous upgrades it is today extremely technologically advanced and capable of producing coins on a very large scale. This is where all Canadian circulating coins are produced, as well as circulating coins commissioned by many other countries. In 2021 alone, more than 68 million Canadian 5-cent coins, more than 170 million 10-cent coins, more than 110 million 25-cent coins, just under 28 million one-dollar coins and just under 36 million two-dollar coins were minted in Winnipeg.
Also of great interest to customers are investment coins, the production of which is the responsibility of the plant, located at the historic site in Ottawa. This is where investment and collector coins are made, as well as medals, medallions and bars. The scale of production can be realized by the level of sales of the most iconic gold coin in the Royal Canadian Mint's range - the Maple Leaf. Since its launch in 1979, more than 25 million troy ounces of gold have been used in its production.
Most popular products
Undoubtedly the most important product in Royal Canadian Mint's wide and varied range is the Maple Leaf. The coin has been produced continuously since 1979 and ranks among the top gold bullion coins in the world. In 1988, the Maple Leaf debuted in a silver version, which is also very popular with investors.
The coin impresses with its classic design, for which Walter Otto has been responsible for years, as well as its very high sample (Au 9999 or Ag 9999). It is worth mentioning that for several years the one-ounce Maple Leaf in gold and silver versions has been part of the Bullion DNA program. Coins minted under the program have an additional security feature - an engraved, non-counterfeit security mark that depicts a small maple leaf overlaid with an even smaller leaf with the year of the coin's production in the center.
DNA bullion technology (DNA. digital non-destructive activation) involves recording an image of a coin with an encrypted code and storing it in the mint's database. As a result, the one-ounce gold and silver Maple Leafs are probably some of the best-secured coins in the world.
Popular coins: