List of foreign countries with coinage struck at the Royal Canadian Mint facts for kids
The Royal Canadian Mint is a special place in Canada. It's like a big factory that makes coins! Since it opened in 1908, the Mint hasn't just made coins for Canada. It has also made coins and coin blanks (the plain metal discs before they become coins) for more than 80 other countries around the world. This list shows some of the countries that have used the Royal Canadian Mint to make their money.
This is a list of countries that have had their coins made by the Royal Canadian Mint.
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Contents
Making Coins for Other Countries
How the Royal Canadian Mint Started Making Foreign Coins Again
In 1970, a person named Gordon Ward Hunter, who was in charge of the Mint, decided to restart making coins for other countries. This part of the Mint's work is called the Foreign Circulation division.
In January 1970, the Royal Canadian Mint won an important job. They got a contract from Singapore to make six million coin blanks. These blanks were made from a special metal mix of copper and nickel. This was the first time the Mint had made coins for another country in 32 years! The last time was for the Dominican Republic.
More Countries Join In
Soon after, in April 1970, another country, Brazil, asked the Mint for help. The Royal Canadian Mint made 84 million coin blanks for Brazil's 50-centavo coins.
In August 1971, the country of Yemen ordered 2 million five-fil coins. Then, Iceland placed an order for 2.5 million one-crown coins.
Special Coins and Big Orders
In October 1971, the Bank of Jamaica asked the Royal Canadian Mint to make two special coins. They wanted a ten-dollar coin made of sterling silver and a twenty-dollar gold coin. These were very high-quality coins, often made for collectors.
Also in 1971, the Mint made coins for several other places. These included the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and the Isle of Man.
A very large order came from Venezuela. They needed 100 million everyday coins: five-centime and ten-centimo pieces. By 1973, all the orders from other countries added up to 65 million coins and 70 million coin blanks.
By 1974, the Royal Canadian Mint's factory in Ottawa had made a huge number of coins. They produced a total of 1.2 billion coins that year. This included coins for Canada and for all the other countries. It was a record for the factory!
