Royal Canadian Mint releases new coins to honour Queen Elizabeth II

The familiar face we have seen on our money for decades has gotten yet another commemorative coin. The Royal Canadian Mint launched its latest special coin to honour the legacy of Queen Elizabeth, one of several in a special Monarch Effigy collection.

The newest addition is a one-ounce pure silver coin titled The Imperial State Crown, which has a face value of $20 but a $159.95 price tag.

The design includes symbolism that considers the Queen’s trademark crown. The coin’s reverse, designed by Mint engraver Cecily Mok, features an artistic representation of the Imperial State Crown, as viewed from above. The coin has an arrangement of eight blue and eight green glass stones, which stand in for the array of precious gems that adorn the crown. The review includes four crystals, with each representing the effigies that have graced Canada’s coins since 1953. On the “heads” side of the coin, there’s a series of four effigies of the Queen from over the last few decades, along with a Tudor rose and her year of birth and death.

Introduced last week, this commemorative coin has proved to be a popular item — despite its price tag – as it’s already sold out online. A gold version of the coin, which was going for $8,259.95, is also sold out. The 1 oz. Pure Gold Coin in honour of Queen Elizabeth II’s Royal Cypher, along with a pure platinum version, have also sold out.

For those looking to invest in a piece of the Queen’s history, there are a few other options in the collection available for sale or pre-order, including a $2 special wrap-roll with a outer black ring to commemorate her passing, or a $5 coin that features a colour portrait taken at the Queen’s last Canadian homecoming in 2010. Titled the Queen Elizabeth's Portrait, that quarter-ounce silver coin runs for $34.95.