Art1.2 Posted April 18, 2014 Report Share Posted April 18, 2014 I noticed on the Canadian Mint website http://www.mint.ca/store/template/home.jsp a number of pure silver $20 coins. They are currently offering a $20 Bobcat coin, http://www.mint.ca/store/coin/20-for-20-fine-silver-coin-bobcat-2014-prod1900026 and a $20 Canada Goose coin http://www.mint.ca/store/coin/20-for-20-fine-silver-coin-canada-goose-2014-prod1840075. Both coins are priced at $20 Canadian plus shipping & handling. Does anyone collect these coins? Does anyone know the silver content? I'm very tempted to order them as I really like the designs on both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazinta Posted April 18, 2014 Report Share Posted April 18, 2014 It's a series that they started in 2011. 4 different design coins are made ever year, and the mintage is 200,000 coins. They are 99.99% pure silver and the weigth is 7,96 grams (~ 1/4 oz). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted April 18, 2014 Report Share Posted April 18, 2014 They started out hot, then as more issues came out interest in them waned. Aside from the first 1-2, most can be obtained in the aftermarket for a small premium (<=20%) over face. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted April 18, 2014 Report Share Posted April 18, 2014 Mintages have also been dropped a bit as well - some, like the hockey $20, actually failed to sell out initially. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazinta Posted May 17, 2014 Report Share Posted May 17, 2014 I only have the one with the maple leaf design, the first one I think. And now they have a $50 for $50 and $100 for $100 sets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted May 18, 2014 Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 I haven't seen the $100 in person but the $50 has an all-matte obverse that looks a bit odd. The most current $20 piece (some sort of wildcat) is so low-relief it makes state quarters look high relief. If you kept one in your pocket long enough the cat would probably turn into a blob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art1.2 Posted May 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2014 I haven't seen the $100 in person but the $50 has an all-matte obverse that looks a bit odd. The most current $20 piece (some sort of wildcat) is so low-relief it makes state quarters look high relief. If you kept one in your pocket long enough the cat would probably turn into a blob. Are they being made in low relief to get more use from the dies or is it an artistic statement? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 Low relief likely for longer die life, since coins these days are mostly about squeezing seigniorage rather than creating little works of art for the masses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 And by the way, there's now a $200 FV (2 oz silver) that's coming out. At this pace, I wouldn't be surprised to see a $500 5 oz piece within a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art1.2 Posted July 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 And by the way, there's now a $200 FV (2 oz silver) that's coming out. At this pace, I wouldn't be surprised to see a $500 5 oz piece within a year. I guess they're generating a decent return for the Mint. You might be right on the 5 oz. But wouldn't it have to compete with the US 5 oz piece? So I'm not sure a 5 oz piece at that kind of price would be a big seller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted July 18, 2014 Report Share Posted July 18, 2014 But wouldn't it have to compete with the US 5 oz piece? So I'm not sure a 5 oz piece at that kind of price would be a big seller. No. I would say that they're targeted at two very different groups. The ATB 5 oz pieces IMO are nice works of art that can be collected on their own, or to accompany the regular sized quarter, with the bullion version being a more affordable piece for someone who wants to pay a modest premium over spot, and the cased version being a fancier piece. The Canadian piece would be of its own series, and targeted primarily towards those with deep pockets who like buying lots of NCLT and other modern "collectibles", and its primary selling point would be that it's a FV piece. One dealer I spoke to mentioned having several regular clients who bought the $20 pieces by the hundreds. Basically, people with money to spend (well, tie up in high FV coins) and aren't too picky. These would be the same people the mint is targeting with these new higher FV coins. Whereas the $20 pieces were targeted towards the masses, I wouldn't be surprised to see a 10000 mintage $500 piece sell out easily, since $5M for a single run could easily be bought up by several eager deep pocketed collectors who don't care that there is likely to be little or no appreciation in value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art1.2 Posted July 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2014 Interesting. I wonder how long it will be before other countries get on this bandwagon. There is quite a nice profit to be made in selling these kind of coins and I'm sure that nearly all countries have those "deep pocket" people these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil_Lincoln Posted July 18, 2014 Report Share Posted July 18, 2014 Thanks for the insights, CCG. Once the RCM moved forward with the $100 for $100 coins, I did wonder how far such a program might go. I bet we do see a $500 for $500 release in the not-so-distant future, especially considering the $200 is already in the works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted July 19, 2014 Report Share Posted July 19, 2014 Interesting. I wonder how long it will be before other countries get on this bandwagon. There is quite a nice profit to be made in selling these kind of coins and I'm sure that nearly all countries have those "deep pocket" people these days. I think today there's more deeper pocket individuals with an interest in collectibles, but not in collecting itself (e.g. buying collectibles for the sake of it rather than being serious collectors who understand what they're buying), and so it's only now that there's the opportunity for it to take off. Some earlier examples of higher value FV precious metal coins that I can think of include (where FV exceeded BV considerably at time of issue and coin was offered at face value or a small premium above face value, approx. FV in brackets) include... France 100 Francs 1982-1990 (15.0g .900 silver, 0.434 ASW, FV~=$20) Annual mintage 3-5 million pieces, available at FV. Netherlands 50 gulden 1982,84,87,88,90,91,94,95,98 (25.0g, .925 silver, 0.743 ASW, FV~=$35) 200k - 1.8m mintage for each issue Japan 5000 yen 1990,93,97,98 (15.0g .925 or .999 silver, 0.446 or 0.482 AGW, FV ~=$50) Mintage 5 or 10 million per type, some years had more than one type issue Japan 50000 yen 1986,87,90 (18.0g .999 gold, 0.579 AGW, FV ~=$500) 1.8 million pieces struck (non proofs) Japan 100000 yen 1986,87,90 (20.0g .999 gold, 0.643 AGW, FV ~=$1000) ~12 million pieces struck (non proofs). Counterfeits in full weight gold known to exist. Switzerland 20 Francs 1991-present (20.0g .835 silver, 0.537 ASW, FV~=$20) This piece is currently issued at a small premium over FV Switzerland 250 Francs 1991 (8.00g .900 gold, 0.2315 AGW, FV~=$250) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted July 19, 2014 Report Share Posted July 19, 2014 And so the Japanese ¥5000 half ounce silver coin set the precedent for the current Canadian CA$50 half ounce silver coin. The main difference is that NCLT and obsolete type coins are much easier to exchange in Tokyo relative to trying to exchange any NCLT or obsolete type Canadian coin in any Canadian city. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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