Collector’s Corner: The talk of the coin world in 2018
By Medicine Hat News on January 26, 2019.
It was an interesting year in 2018 as far as coins are concerned. The latest coin that is still stirring the conversation among collectors is the 2018 toonie (Armistice) in both colour and non-colour. The Royal Canadian Mint has stated that there are twice as many colour as there are non-colour, however everyone I have talked to is able to find the non-colour but cannot find any colour in circulation. The odd one seems to pop up in circulation, but generally the only place you can find a colour is with a collector or dealer and may have to pay up to $7 a coin, or maybe $9 for a colour and non-colour pair. The colour coins do show up in a special wrap roll but with no guarantees on how many colours are in the roll. There is also a six-coin Armistice set with both coins included. In addition, the Mint has released a $10 fine silver collectible coin engraved with the poignant image of a lone Canadian soldier by artist Laurie McGaw. This complements beautifully the Mint’s $100 fine silver Angel of Victory coin. The mint issued a test token package with some of the newest innovations the mint has to offer. This is a six-coin set with designs that are not in any other set or in circulation. This token set pulls back the curtain on some never-before-seen minting technology developed at the Mint’s R&D facility, where these six test specimens help give shape to the coins of tomorrow. Since that package has been released it has been found that one of the coins has a large die crack visible to the naked eye. Collectors are now receiving a premium for this set. Another interesting coin was the glow in the dark “Far and Wide” large 50-cent coin which came in a six-coin set. The coin came with a red Canada map with a maple leaf on it. This set is a celebration of the 200th anniversary of the 49th parallel, the famous border between Canada and the United States of America (and presently does not require a wall). Last year also produced the standard uncirculated set, specimen set, standard proof set, and two types of the premium proof set. There are also the regular five types of gift sets, Baby, Birthday, Oh Canada, Wedding and Holiday. These sets come with the regular uncirculated coins except for the loonie which has a special image, which is only in this set. Other regular coins which were issued are the birthstone, 50-cent lenticular holiday coin, wedding coin, and baby feet. The Mint produces a large number of coins each year, and I am not able to list them all for you here. It varies in themes from animal, plains, scenery, puzzles, comic series, royalty, zodiac and coins that don’t even look like coins. To view some of new or even older coins produced by the mint go to http://www.mint.ca. If there are some coins that interest you remember your local dealers offer the same price or maybe even a little less than the mint, and you do not have to pay shipping. I would like to remind everyone of our annual Spring Coin & Stamp show coming up this Spring on April 6 at Higdon Hall Collector’s Corner is contributed by the Medicine Hat Coin & stamp Club. For questions or comments about coin or stamp collections email medhatcsc@live.com 9-8
