| I know a lot of you out there collect U.S currency, but I would like to give brief history on Canadian Numismatic History. Over the years Canadian numismatics have developed to become widely appreciated and they have been recognized internationaly for their stunning beauty. The history is also an extremely short one. For previous to 1858 Canadian decimal coinage didn't exist. And it was not until 1908 that we even struck our own coins. Before 1908, all Canadian coinage was struck at the "Heaton" Mint in England, this is why some Canadian coins, 1907 and before, bear an "H" Mint mark. Coins which do not bear this mark were also struck in England but in another public mint. In 1908 the Royal Canadian Mint opened.It struck all coins. It now even strikes coins for other countries. In 1976, the Winnipeg Mint opened. |  |
| The Winnipeg Mint now strikes all circulating coin while the Ottawa Mint strikes commeratives and foreigns. This year for the first time since 1907 the Proof Like Canadian sets(struck in Winnipeg) will bear a Mint Mark, "W". There are so many rarities in Canadian coinage because of the smaller population and the different delays the mint has experienced. For example, the Royal Canadian Mint went on strike in 1991, which left lots of the coins with smaller mintages, especially the 1991 quarter, with a mintage of 459 000 circulating coins made! It is almost nowhere to be found in circulation. In 1997and 1998 there were no circulating 25cent or $1 pieces struck because of the amount made in previous years. In 1996 The new two dollar coin was struck in 1996. It bore a polar bear. |  |
| It was the first circulating bi-metallic coin for Canada. Canadian coinage is of an extremely good quality. Each coin is tended to and the interesting thing is one or two oddities sneak from within the mint and into a collectors hand. Candian error numismatics are very interesting. Much like the U.S., the content of the coins has changed to suit the countries needs, for example, during the second world war, Canada's use of nickel for it's 5 cent pieces had to be halted and replaced with copper alloys and chromium plated nickel. In the U.S. the pennies had to be changed to a steel content replacing the normal copper. Back in the early 1900's and late 1800's Canada's pennies were large but to make an easier coin to carry they shrunk the pennies size, not only was this more efficient but it gave the Royal Canadian Mint a lower cost for producing these pennies. The nickels of Canada weren't even nickel they used to be silver along with the dimes, quarters, dollars and 50 cent pieces. In 1858, the first year Canada ever had decimal currency, there was a 20 cent piece which tends to be quite rare now. This is just a small amount of Canadian numismatic history. |  |
