Canadian Circulation Coins - August 2001

This year has proven to be full of surprises! To date, the Royal Canadian Mint's Winnipeg facility has struck 2001 1-cent, 5-cent, 10-cent, 25-cent, and $2.00 coins. Interesting varieties have begun to appear in the 2001 coinage. The 5-cent coins have been spotted both with and without “P” Mint Marks. To date, all 1-cent and 25-cent coins minted for circulation have been seen without “P” Mint Marks. It looks unlikely at this time that the Mint will be striking either of these two denominations with the “P” Mint Mark for circulation this year. Collectors will thus have to resort to the 2001-P 1-cent and 25-cent pieces found in the Mint’s numismatic sets to complete the gaps. In May, a new commemorative 10-cent piece was launched for circulation. The coin commemorates the International Year of the Volunteer, and features a modern design. All of these coins have been minted on the new blanks, and have thus been marked with a “P” on the obverse. Production of the 2001 Bluenose 10-cent has concluded for the year. The design will, however return in 2002. It is the first commemorative 10-cent piece issued for circulation since the Centennial issue of 1967. It is very unlikely that we will see any Loon Dollars minted for circulation this year, although the Mint still intends to strike the 50 Cent Piece later this year for general circulation (probably October).

The most interesting development from the Mint came in late-December 2000, when the changeover to plated Steel blanks began. These new plated Steel coins have all been marked with a "P" Mint Mark to indicate the change in composition. It became known at the end of 2000 that an emergency issue of 2000 5-cent coins was struck with a "P" Mint Mark. These coins were struck in relatively small quantities. It is estimated that approximately 2,000,000 2000-P 5-Cent coins were struck in late November to alleviate a coin shortage in Alberta and Quebec. The 2000-P 5-cent coins were distributed to banks and other financial institutions in these two areas. Only 5-cent coins were struck in 2000 with the "P" Mint Mark. All of the other 2000-dated denominations were struck entirely on the old composition blanks.

The production of 2001 1-cent coins has been struck entirely on non-steel plated blanks. As stated earlier, the Mint is not striking 2001 1-cent coins with a “P” Mint Mark. We do not expect to see 2001-P 1-cent coins in circulation this year. The 5-cent coin has already been struck on both plated and non-plated blanks, creating two varieties for the year. Both can be easily distinguished by the presence (or absence) of the "P" Mint Mark. At this time, it appears that the "No P" 2001 5 Cents is the scarcer of the two types. We have heard reports that collectors have found differences in the size of the zeros of “2001” on the 5-cent coins. The 2001 10-cent coins have only been seen with the "P" Mint Mark, indicating that the Mint ran out of the old blanks at precisely the same time that production of the 2000 coinage wrapped up, and 2001 production began. The 2001 Volunteer commemorative has also been minted entirely on the new blanks. The Mint also struck some 25-cent pieces for circulation. It was the first time that a Caribou-style 25 Cent coin was issued for circulation since 1996. The entire production of these coins was executed on non-plated blanks, so the 2001 25-cent pieces do not have a Mint Mark. Surprisingly, the Mint exhausted their entire supply of 2001-dated 25-cent coins by mid-March. It is possible that the 2001 25-cents will be a lower mintage coin. Even if the Mint does produce more circulating 2001-dated 25-cent coins, it is unlikely that they will be struck on non-plated blanks. The Mint will likely have to make new plated blanks, and will thus mark any future 2001-dated 25 cents with a "P" Mint Mark. There are no plans to change the composition of the Loon Dollar or $2.00 coin.

The 1999 & 2000 “P” Test Coins
In 1999 and 2000, Test Coins were struck with a "P" Mint Mark on the new plated blanks. They were issued in small quantities to vending machine companies and transit authorities to recalibrate their equipment to the new coin weights. Test Coins, dated 1999-P, are known to have been struck for the 1-cent, 5-cent, 10-cent, 25-cent, and 50-cent denominations. It is now known that 2000-P dated Test Coins were also struck for the 5-cent, 10-cent, 25-cent and 50-cent denominations. Presumably, some 2000-P 1-cent Test Coins were also struck, but the existence of these coins has not yet been confirmed. The author first saw the 10-cent 2000-P Test Coins in January 2001. Since that time, the author has personally seen and can attest to the existence of a 2000-P 50-cent Test Coin, a 2000-P 25-cent “Creativity” coin and a 2000-P 25-cent “Community” coin. These four coins were not issued for circulation with a “P” Mint Mark so identification of these pieces is easy. Unfortunately, the identification of the 5-cent 2000-P Test Coin is now impossible, as the Test Coins are identical in all aspects to the 2000-P business strike 5-cent coins struck for circulation. There are reports that a few 1999-P and 2000-P Test Coins made it into circulation by accident. Keep your eyes open! The 2000-P Test Coins appear to be much scarcer that the 1999-P Test Coins. The 2000-P 10-cent is now listed in the 2002 Charlton Catalogue, where it is described as being “rare.” The other denominations have not been listed, as their existence was only recently confirmed. Happy hunting!

 Cameron Bevers
Colonial Acres Coins