What is the Royal Canadian Mint?
The Royal Canadian Mint is Canada’s only producer of gold bullion and coinage. It offers manufacturing and refinery services for domestic coinage and precious metals, along with manufacturing metals for other countries. The mint is a Crown corporation and owned in a trust for the Crown of Canada.
History
At the beginning of its history, Canada didn’t have a mint of its own, and instead, the Royal Mint of London produced most Canadian coinage beginning in 1858. As the nation grew, so did the need for its own domestic gold coinage production. As a result, in 1908, the first domestically produced coin was struck in Canada, starting the beginning of the nation’s storied minting history.
In its early days, all domestically produced metals were still under the Royal Mint of London’s umbrella. But in 1931, the country’s parliament recognized that having its own mint would help to support its economy. Canadian Parliament established the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) at this time, which was housed under Canada’s Department of Finance. The RCM began by producing bullion coins and bars, slowly building up its production capacity. It wasn’t long before all circulating coinage in the country was produced by the new mint.
After the passing of the Royal Canadian Mint Act in 1969, the precious metal producer became a Crown Corporation, reporting directly to the Canadian Parliament through the country’s Minister of Finance.
The RCM has a history of producing coinage for foreign countries through its international contracts. While the mint did make foreign coinage in its early years, this picked up in 1970 with the mint’s Foreign Circulation Division’s relaunch. The mint produced six million rimmed blanks for Singapore that same year, its first international job in 32-years. Since its inception, the RCM has produced coinage for 89 countries to date.
The RCM and Gold
The Royal Canadian Mint has produced and distributed gold in the country for decades.
Gold production by the RCM is mostly done in its Ottawa facility, which opened in 1908. The mint first began to refine gold by the process of electrolysis but shortly moved to a chlorination process that saved time and money in production. Today, gold is refined in a hybrid process that uses both chlorination and electrolysis.
The Ottawa facility of the RCM is responsible for producing various different forms of gold, including:
- Commemorative and collector coins – These coins aren’t meant for circulation and instead honor national achievements and themes. Therefore, the market value of collector coins has the potential to be greater than their face value would indicate.
- Bullion – Comes in a variety of forms such as bars, wafers and grain, and medallions. Royal Canadian Mint’s bullion products include 1-kilogram gold bars, gold wafers of various sizes, and bullion coins.
- Gifts and souvenirs – Gold pieces that make for great gifts or keepsakes.
- Canadian Gold Maple Leaf – A gold coin issued annually with a face value of $50 CAD. The Maple Leaf is one of the purest bullion coins in the world.
The Canadian Gold Maple Leaf debuted in 1979 with a sugar maple leaf on the reverse. This image was designed by Walter Ott and has remained the same since the inception of the series.
The obverse of these coins displays the reigning British monarch on the obverse. Over the years this has included the following designs:
- 1979-1989: Coins with this issuing year display the Queen at the age of 39.
- 1990-2003: Coins with this issuing year feature Her Majesty at the age of 64.
- 2004-2023: Coins with this issuing year showcase Queen Elizabeth II at the age of 79.
- 2024: Coins with this issuing year show King Charles III. This is the first time someone other than the Queen has been pictured.
What makes the RCM special?
The RCM not only has a history of excellence among its peers, but the mint also continues to show its uniqueness and quality today. It has over a century of experience with new technological advancements to create a better, more secure experience for its customers.
- Using MINT SHIELD Technology, the mint can reduce the occurrence of white spots on silver bullion coins.
- Bullion DNA ensures authenticity through a micro-engraved security mark with coin information stored in a secure database.
- Mint customers can purchase bullion by a registered Bullion DNA dealer, thereby eliminating concerns over bullion authenticity.
The highest quality gold
The RCM is known for its ability to produce gold of the highest quality. It was the first to produce coins and bars at 0.9999 purity, and then 0.99999 purity after that in 1998. The mint can refine granulation gold at 0.99999 purity, and it is the only mint to issue a 0.99999 pure gold bullion investment coin. In fact, the RCM is in the Guinness World Records in 2007 for producing the largest coin in the world. The gold coin came in at 100 kg, 0.99999 purity, and was valued at $1 million.
Gold coins produced by the mint range from 14-24 Karat gold and come with a variety of commemorative and collectible engravings, ranging from the nation’s historical events to beautiful landscapes and wildlife.
The Royal Canadian Mint has produced some of the finest gold products for markets and customers worldwide.
