Curator & Collector

The Sun; Royal Canadian Mint limited edition one dollar coin for the 2010 Winter Olympics; designed by Xwa lack tun [Corrected] The recent 2010 Winter Olympics came during a time of profound personal upheaval which the artistic events of the Games had a part in healing. To commemorate the Games, I purchased from the Royal [...]

Thunderbird on a Royal Canadian Mint bullion coin In preparation for the recent Winter Olympics, the Royal Canadian Mint released a number of commemorative coins, three of which were $5 silver bullion coins (often known, after the “normal” reverse design, as “Silver Maple Leaf” coins–or “SMLs”). I particularly liked this one, which depicts on its [...]

Obverse of the famous $1 million gold coin produced by the Royal Canadian Mint One of the most popular exhibits at the recent 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver was the Royal Canadian Mint Pavilion, which housed, in addition to the medals shown in the preceding post, the largest traveling coin in the world. I had [...]

Image of the Jody Broomfield-designed $3 coin, “Return of the Tyee” Jody Broomfield, whom I met last week at the Aboriginal Artisans’ Village during the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, was the one who created this beautiful design celebrating the return of the Tyee, or black salmon. This silver proof $3 coin was produced by Canada’s [...]

Image of Royal Canadian Mint commemorative playing card money from an eBay auction I’m the sort of collector who likes to occasionally buy Royal Canadian Mint products. The operative word, of course, is “occasionally,” for the Mint’s productions have often been characterized by a deadly combination of high mintage runs, silly or boring subjects, and [...]

Altered image of Royal Canadian Mint centennial commemorative gold and silver coins from CoinNews.net At over $8,000 and $369.95, respectively, these coins will be out of the price range of many collectors. Nevertheless, the gold $500 coin, with its low mintage of only 250, has already sold out. (The $50 silver coin has a mintage [...]

Altered image of Royal Canadian Mint centennial commemorative silver dollar from CoinNews.net This proof dollar was issued by the Royal Canadian Mint to celebrate and commemorate its 100th anniversary. The leaf recalls both the maple twigs on the penny and the Mint’s trademark bullion reverse design, while the bird calls to mind both the modern [...]

Book Commemorating the Royal Canadian Mint’s centenary anniversary To celebrate and commemorate its centennial anniversary, the Royal Canadian Mint has released a truly stunning book entitled, “Royal Canadian Mint: 100 Years of History.” The book is sure to delight not only numismatists, but also bibliophiles, everywhere. It is not unlike the best of what the [...]

Royal Canadian Mint commemorative fifty-cent coin and stamp Like many collectors, I am not particularly impressed with many of the gimmicky coins (for example, the “milk token”) produced by the Royal Canadian Mint. For their 100th anniversary, though, the Royal Canadian Mint has put together an impressive and very attractive line of products to suit [...]