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Fundraising coins salute the Gretzkys
By Bret Evans
The Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) is issuing three Gretzky coins, one honouring hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, and two honouring both him and his father Walter. The coins are part of an Oct. 4 product launch by the Crown corporation.
The father and son coins are identical designs, issued in gold and silver.
The gold coin shows an image of Wayne Gretzky skating, wearing a team Canada uniform. A cameo of Walter is shown to the right and his distinctive number, 99, appears below the cameo with selective laser etching used for the number.
The $200 coin is struck in 91.67-per-cent (22-karat) gold with a weight of 16 grams and diameter of 29 millimetres. The mintage is 999 coins.
The silver coin has the same design, except the number 99 is in the form of a hologram.
The coin has a face value of $25 and is struck in 99.99-per-cent silver with a weight of 31.39 grams and diameter of 38 mm. The mintage limit is 19,999.
Walter's support and encouragement was considered instrumental in Wayne's career success.
The elder Gretzky is a member of the Order of Canada and has dedicated his life to charity work.
The third Gretzky coin is a coloured base metal 25-cent piece.
The coin shows a painted close-up image of Wayne Gretzky in an orange and blue jersey.
The coins are struck on gold-plated copper-plated steel blanks with a diameter of 35 mm and packaged in a folder containing Gretzky's career statistics. There is no mintage limit.
All the reverses were designed by Glen Green. The obverses have the Susanna Blunt effigy of Queen Elizabeth II.
A portion of the sale of all three coins will be donated to the Wayne Gretzky Foundation.
Founded in 2002, the Wayne Gretzky Foundation's mission is to provide less fortunate youth with the opportunity to experience the sport of hockey.
It does this through the donation of hockey equipment and ice time, as well as providing the opportunity for young people to attend professional hockey games.
To date, the Wayne Gretzky Foundation has raised more than $1 million in support of youth in hockey.
Diamond Jubilee coins for 2012
The offering also includes several coins marking the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II to be celebrated next year. The coins all have the date 2012.
The $300 gold coin is the first to have a diamond struck into the coin, viewable from both sides.
The reverse, designed by Laurie McGaw, depicts a portrait of a young Queen with her hand outstretched, showing her as she was in 1952, and the dual dates 1952-2012.
The obverse has the contemporary Blunt effigy.
The diamond is inset in an upper corner. The weight of the round brilliant cut diamond is between 0.11 and 0.14 karats with a clarity of VS or better and colour of 1 or better. They are Canadian diamonds, and come with a certificate of authenticity from Ekati Diamond Mines.
The coin is struck in .99999 fine gold with a weight of 22 grams and diameter of 25 mm. The mintage limit is 1,500. Each coin is hand-polished.
The launch includes the final two coins in a three-piece $20 silver series marking the jubilee.
The first coin, launched in May of this year, shows two effigies of the Queen with a gem inset.
The second coin shows a portrait of the Queen and Prince Philip from the time of the coronation.
Around the edge of the portrait is a pair of floral elements made up of a shamrock, thistle, rose and maple leaves.
Also designed by McGaw, the coin has mintage limit of 15,000. It is struck on 99.99-per-cent silver blanks, with a weight of 31.39 grams and diameter of 38 mm.
The final silver coin shows the EIIR royal cipher surrounded with a wreath of maple leaves. Superimposed on the wreath is the Canadian Diamond Jubilee logo, with a "60" and maple leaf contained by a lozenge.
No designer is credited for the coin, which has the same mintage and specifications as the previous issue.
The design is repeated on a small gold coin.
The gold version has a face value of $5, mintage of 7,500, and is struck on 99.99-per-cent gold blanks. The coins have a diameter of 16 mm and weight of 3.13 grams.
Gold coin marks Canada's first gold coins
The launch includes the Mint's sixth five-ounce gold coin.
The 2012-dated issue marks the 100th anniversary of the first Canadian gold coins, the $5 and $10 issues of 1912.
The coin is an exact reproduction of those coins, even down to the King George V obverse complete with the inscription "GEORGIVS V DEI GRA: REX ET IND:IMP," Latin for "George V, King by the Grace of God and Emperor of India."
The only difference is the dual date of "1912-2012" and the denomination of $500 on the new issue. The Mint even borrowed a coin from the Bank of Canada collection to ensure accurate reproduction.
The 99.99-per-cent gold coin has a diameter of 60.15 mm and mintage limit of 200.
Platinum, gold coins depict cougar
The cougar is the theme of a gold and a platinum issue.
Both coins depict a cougar head designed by Emily Damstra. The design is simple, showing the animal and minimal inscriptions.
The platinum coin is struck in 99.95-per-cent platinum with a mintage of just 200 coins. The $300 coin has a weight of 31.16 grams and diameter of 30 mm. It is the only platinum coin struck by the Mint this year.
The gold coin weighs in at a mere 0.5 grams, with a face value of 25 cents.
It measures just 11 mm in diameter and has a mintage limit of 15,000 coins.
Santa on the move
The fifth consecutive holiday lenticular coin has been released.
Lenticular coins show moving, or different, images when tilted, due to the use of lenticular lenses in front of the image.
The 2011 version has two images and shows Santa plotting his route on a globe and then flying over a decorated house.
The 50-cent coin is struck on copper-plated steel blanks with a diameter of 35 mm and no mintage limit.
The coin has two different finishes: Numismatic Brilliant Uncirculated on the reverse and Specimen on the obverse. No designer is credited.
$20 for $20
The RCM has fired up a second "$20 for $20" issue, following up on the success of the 2010 edition.
This year's coin consists of a 7.96 gram coin struck in .9999 fine silver, essentially just a bit more than one-quarter ounce of silver.
The interesting thing is that the coin is being sold for face value, and will be honoured as legal tender by the RCM at its boutiques. The face value will remain higher than the bullion value as long as silver remains below approximately $80 per ounce.
The design, by Jason Bouwman, shows a young person riding in the front of a canoe. As the boy dips his hand in the water, the reflection reveals an early native paddler, or voyageur, in a traditional birchbark canoe.
Struck in what the RCM calls specimen background, the coin has a 27 mm diameter. The coin has a mintage limit of 250,000, an increase from the 200,000 limit for the 2010 issue. The 2010 issue sold out in just 29 days.
October 25, 2011 to November 7, 2011 issue of Canadian Coin News
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