Voyageur dollar facts for kids

The voyageur dollar was a special Canadian coin. It was used in Canada from 1935 to 1986. At first, these coins were made mostly of silver. But after 1968, they were made from nickel and were a bit smaller. In 1987, a new coin called the loonie took its place. Even though you don't see them much anymore, voyageur dollars are still valid money in Canada.

History of the Voyageur Dollar

Making the First Dollars

In 1910, the Canadian government wanted to create a new silver dollar coin. The special tools, called dies, for making these coins were ordered. But they arrived almost a year later. By then, Sir Robert Borden had become Canada's new leader. He decided to stop making the silver dollar coins.

Some people think the coins were cancelled because they didn't include a Latin phrase meaning "by the grace of God." This phrase was usually on coins and caused some debate. Even though the coins weren't made for people to use, three test coins were created in London in 1911. Two were silver, and one was lead. These rare coins are now on display at the Bank of Canada Museum.

The 1935 Silver Jubilee Coin

This 1935 Canadian voyageur dollar celebrated King George V's Silver Jubilee.

In 1935, a special silver dollar was made to celebrate King George V's 25 years as king. This event is called a Silver Jubilee. The front of the coin showed the King. The back had a picture of a voyageur (a French-Canadian fur trader) and an Indigenous man in a canoe.

The canoe also carried two bundles of furs. On one bundle, you can see the letters "HB" for the Hudson's Bay Company. A designer named Emanuel Hahn created this picture. This coin was the start of silver Canadian dollars being used by people. They continued to be made until 1968.

Coins Made of Silver

The 1935 coin was very popular. So, starting in 1936, silver dollars were made almost every year for people to use. They had the same canoe design as the 1935 coin. These coins were made of 80% silver.

During World War II, from 1939 to 1945, no regular silver dollars were made. Also, in some years, special commemorative dollars were made instead of the regular ones. For example, in 1939, a coin was made for King George VI's visit. In 1967, a special "flying goose" coin was made for Canada's 100th birthday.

Coins Made of Nickel

After 1967, the voyageur dollar design came back. But this time, the coins were made of pure nickel instead of silver. This change happened because Canada decided to use less expensive metals for its coins. Nickel is a harder metal than silver. Because of this, the coin's size was made a bit smaller, from 36 mm to 32 mm. This made the coins easier to make.

From then on, the nickel voyageur dollar was made every year, except when special commemorative coins were released. The last voyageur dollar for everyday use was made in 1986. A few more were made for collectors in 1987.

Changing to the Loonie

The silver and nickel dollars were not used very often by people. However, the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) still wanted a dollar coin. They realized that a coin could last 20 years longer than a dollar bill. This could save Canada a lot of money, up to $250 million over 20 years!

To encourage people to use the new dollar coin, it was made smaller and changed to a gold color. Also, the one-dollar paper bill was removed from use. The plan was to keep the voyageur design on the new gold-colored coin. But the special tools (dies) needed to make the voyageur design were lost while being shipped. To prevent fake coins, a different design was chosen. This new design, created by Robert-Ralph Carmichael, showed a loon. This new coin became known as the loonie.

Special Edition Coins

Over the years, the Royal Canadian Mint has released special versions of the voyageur dollar for collectors.

• In 2003, a special silver voyageur dollar was made to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's 50 years as queen. Only 30,000 of these were created.
• In 2017, the Mint made silver and gold coins with platinum plating. These celebrated the 30th birthday of the loonie. One of these coins used the voyageur design but showed the dates "1987–2017."
• In 2018, the Mint released very large silver voyageur coins. Some weighed 5 ounces, and others weighed 1 kilogram! The 1 kg coin was 102 mm wide, and only 350 were made.

Special Edition Voyageur Dollars

Image	Year	Theme	Artist	Number Made	Fun Facts
	1939	The Royal Visit	Emanuel Hahn	1,363,816	This coin celebrated King George VI and Queen Elizabeth's visit to Ottawa. It has Latin words that mean "He reigns by the faith of his people."
	1949	Newfoundland Joins Canada	Ernest Maunder	672,218	The coin shows The Matthew, the ship John Cabot sailed when he first arrived in Newfoundland in 1497. The Latin words below the ship mean "May the New Found Land flourish."
	1958	100 Years of British Columbia	Stephen Trenka	3,039,630	This coin celebrated 100 years since the Cariboo Gold Rush and British Columbia becoming a British area. It shows a totem pole in front of the Rocky Mountains.
	1964	100 Years of Important Meetings	Thomas Shingles	7,296,832	This coin celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Charlottetown and Quebec Conferences. These meetings helped create Canada. The design shows symbols for French, Irish, Scottish, and English heritage.
	1967	Canada's 100th Birthday	Alex Colville	6,767,496	This coin was part of a special series for Canada's 100th birthday. It features a Canada goose flying.
	1970	100 Years of Manitoba	Raymond Taylor	4,140,058	This coin celebrated 100 years since Manitoba joined Canada. It shows a prairie crocus, which is Manitoba's provincial flower.
	1971	100 Years of British Columbia	Thomas Shingles	4,260,781	This coin celebrated 100 years since British Columbia joined Canada. It shows British Columbia's coat of arms and its provincial flower, the dogwood.
	1973	100 Years of Prince Edward Island	Walter Ott	3,196,452	This coin celebrated 100 years since Prince Edward Island joined Canada. It shows Province House, where the province's government meets.
	1974	100 Years of Winnipeg	Patrick Brindley	2,799,363	This coin celebrated Winnipeg's 100th birthday. It shows the number 100. Inside the zeros are pictures of Winnipeg's Main Street in 1874 and 1974.
	1982	Canada's Constitution Acts	Ago Aarand	9,709,402	This coin celebrated important laws that shaped Canada, the 1867 and 1982 Acts. It shows a picture of the Fathers of Confederation, who helped create Canada.
	1984	Jacques Cartier's Arrival	Hector Greville	7,009,323	This coin celebrated 450 years since explorer Jacques Cartier arrived in Canada. It shows him in front of a cross with the French coat of arms.