Canadian coinage since 1937

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From 1982 the 1 cent coin was once again produced in bronze.

Now however it was made 12-sided in order to reduce its weight slightly, to 2.5 g.

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Here you see the reverse of the 12-sided cent.

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From Wikipedia:

In 1982 the Royal Canadian Mint began work on a new composition for the dollar coin that it hoped would lead to increased circulation. The nickel Voyageur $1 coin did not see wide circulation, mainly due to its size (a diameter of 32 millimetres) and weight (15.6 grams). Meanwhile, vending machine operators and transit systems were lobbying for the replace of the dollar banknotes with coins.

A government committee recommended in 1985 that the dollar bill be eliminated, arguing that it would save between $175 million and $250 million over 20 years by switching from bills with a lifespan of less than a year to coins that would last two decades.

The government announced on March 25 1986 that the new dollar coin would be launched the following year and that the dollar bill would be phased out. To distinguish it from other coins, the new $1 coin would be gold-coloured and 11-sided. It was planned that the coin would continue using the voyageur theme of its predecessor, but the master dies that had been struck in Ottawa were lost in transit, en route to the Mint's facility at Winnipeg.

Fearing the possibility of counterfeiting, the government approved a new design for the reverse.

RCM officials now reluctantly sought another design for the planned coin. In 1978 a little known artist named Robert-Ralph Carmichael had sent a design of a loon bird to the Royal
Canadian Mint. The RCM had found no use for the design, and for years it sat unnoticed in their archives. Hurriedly scouring the archives, the RCM encountered Mr Carmichael's charming loon
bird design, and a classic was born. The Canadians came to adore the new coin, which they affectionately nicknamed the 'loonie'.

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The obverse of the 1 dollar coin of 1987.

The new coin was 11-sided and made of bronze-plated nickel.

It weighed 7 g and had a diameter of 26.5 mm.

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The reverse of the 1 dollar coin of 1987.

From Wikipedia:

The loon is the size of a large duck or a small goose, but it is neither a duck nor a goose. The North American name "loon" likely comes from either the Old English word lumme, meaning lummox or awkward person, or the Scandinavian word lum, meaning lame or clumsy. Either way, the name refers to the loon's poor ability to walk on land. The scientific name Gavia refers to seabirds in general.

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The new effigy on a 1 cent coin of 1990.

In 1990 Canadian coins greeted the new decade with a new effigy of Queen Elizabeth II.

The new effigy was the work of Dora de Pedery-Hunt (1913 to 2008).

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The new effigy on a 25 cents coin of 1990.

Here you see how the new portrait looked on the obverse of the round nickel coins: 10, 25 and 50 cents.

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The new effigy on a $1 coin of the year 2000.

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Canada had produced a special circulation set of new designs for the 100th anniversary of the Confederation. For the 125th anniversary in 1992 another numismatic extravaganza was prepared.

Firstly, the standard circulation set was produced, but with the years '1867 1962' on the reverse of each denomination. You can see the reverse designs below. The images are not to scale, meaning that they do not show the correct relative sizes of the coins. Most show proof versions of the coins, but circulation versions were indeed produced.

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Secondly, a special dollar was issued in 1992 with a new design.

It commemorated the 125th anniversary of Confederation.

The reverse design showed the parliament building and two children with a flag.

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Thirdly, and most spectacularly, Canada produced a set of 12 circulating 25 cents coins.

Each coin carried a different design on the reverse.

Each design depicted a scene from one of Canada's provinces or territories at that time.

The territory of Nunavut was not created until 1999.

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The twelve special 25 cents coins showed the anniversary years on their obverse.

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Canada had produced special designs for the 5 cents coin in 1943, 1944 and 1951. In 1973 it had issued a circulating 25 cents coin to honour the Mounties.

The set of twelve circulating 25 cent coins was a further step in the tradition of issuing commemorative coins of low denomination, so that they reached much of the population.

This set was emulated by the USA when that country issued its circulating commemorative quarters honouring the 50 states, from 1999 to 2008.

The UK eventually issued a set of 10 pence alphabet designs in 2018, no doubt inspired by the Canadian set of 1992.

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The $2 coin was introduced in 1996. It was Canada's first bimetallic circulation coin. It quickly acquired the nickname of the 'toonie', sometimes spelled 'twoonie' as a reference to its denomination. This nickname also rhymed with the nickname of its counterpart coin, the loonie. Was the nickname also influenced by the name of the US cartoon series 'Looney Tunes' ?

From Wikipedia:

Finance Minister Paul Martin announced the replacement of the $2 banknote with a coin in the 1995 Canadian federal budget speech. Unlike the loonie before it, the toonie and the $2 bill were not produced concurrently with each other, as the $2 bill was withdrawn from circulation on February 16, 1996, three days prior to the toonie's introduction.

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The obverse of the $2 coin of 1996.

The $2 coin is bimetallic, with an aluminium-bronze center within a nickel ring.

It weighs 7.3 g and is 28 mm in diameter.

It is the only Canadian coin that has consistently featured its issue date on the obverse.