Royal Canadian Mint
Photo Source: Royal Canadian Mint website.
Photo Source: Royal Canadian Mint website.
The Royal Canadian Mint is a maker of bullion in Canada.
Canadian coins were struck in England from 1858 and shipped by sea to Canada, however the history of the Royal Canadian Mint links back to January 2nd, 1908. On this day Governor General Grey started the press at the Ottawa branch of the British Royal Mint. This branch was then handed over to Canadian ownership in 1931, which is when it was renamed to the Royal Canadian Mint.
Similar to other mints throughout the world, the first branch of the Royal Canadian Mint was opened in order to service the needs of the local gold industry, with gold being brought out of the Yukon and British Columbia.
The Royal Canadian Mint’s refinery opened doors in 1911 and was used to produce large numbers of gold bars for Britain, which were used to repay their debt to other countries. A new, much more modern, refinery was opened in 1936 which is still in use today.
The refinery has produced 9999 gold bars since 1969 and was the world’s first refinery to produce 9999 gold coins in 1982. The Royal Canadian Mint raised this bar in 1999 when they produced 99999 gold.
There are two main facilities, the Ottawa facility and the Winnipeg facility.
- Ottawa facility – Collector and commemorative coins, bullion coins (such as the Canadian Maple Leaf Series and bullion bars, medals and medallions as well as dye making.
- Winnipeg facility – Circulation currency for Canada as well as other countries.
Tours are available at both facilities.
The mint produces the following series:
