Canada is a country dominated by immigrants. The currency used by early immigrants can be described as a wide variety of species. There are more than ten species such as francs, US dollars, British pounds, and Spanish pesetas. As the country grows and develops, Canada needs to mint its own currency to safeguard the country’s credit and facilitate transactions and exchanges. In order to comply with this historical requirement, Canada began to build a coin factory in Ottawa in 1905. On January 2, 1908, the casting of a 50 cent coin announced the official launch of the Royal Canadian Mint. The plant is currently engaged in the design and production of collectibles, commemorative coins, medals and medals, as well as the purification and processing of gold.
In 1998, the governments of China and Canada jointly issued “Bethune’s silver coin for the 60th anniversary of his arrival in China.” The Royal Canadian Mint assumed the design, casting, and distribution of silver coins issued by the Canadian government, and created a Sino-foreign joint foundry and gold and silver memorial. A precedent for the currency.
At the 2009 Beijing International Coin Expo, the Canadian Mint once attended as a guest exhibitor, and showed the history and culture of Canadian coins to the majority of Quan You. The journalist had the privilege of interviewing Ian Bennett, the director of the Canadian Mint, and asked him to share with you some details of the Canadian Royal Mint and the Canadian Precious Metal Commemorative Coin.
Reporter: We understand that the Royal Canadian Mint is part of the federal government of Canada. There are two mints in Winnipeg and Ottawa, which produce commemorative coins and precious metal commemorative coins. Chinese collectors have little knowledge of the “project”, “design”, “production”, “sales” and other aspects of the Canadian precious metal commemorative coin project. Please tell the Chinese collectors about these links.
Ian Bennett: As you said, the Royal Canadian Mint is a statutory mint agency affiliated with the federal government of Canada. In the past 100 years, the Canadian Mint has been dedicated to the use of unique designs and exquisite craftsmanship. Through careful production of gold, silver, platinum and other precious metal commemorative coins and currency coins, the rich and valuable Canadian history and culture and the Canadian people's style have been fully presented. world. With its superb quality, creative charm and outstanding craftsmanship, the Canadian Mint has won the love of collectors all over the world and has won the World Coin Award for its cast products.
Every year, the commemorative coin project in Canada must be approved by the Canadian government. The theme of the limited number of commemorative coins is generated after careful research and strict screening. It is necessary to take into account the uniqueness and commemorative value of the project. Some popular elements, such as the Chinese Lunar New Year project and the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, were also included in the commemorative coin distribution program.
The design team of the Royal Mint is very large, and many artists including the Sculpture Department of the Ottawa Plant have participated in the design. The Mint used to issue a series of thematic projects including wildlife, indigenous people, aerospace, trains, automobiles, scenic spots and artists in the past. Some of them were commissioned by the mint to directly design artists, and others were designed by many artists. Selected from the program. The Royal Mint Engraving Department consists of 8 sculptors, among which 3 senior sculptors, 2 sculptors and 3 assistant sculptors are all from professional colleges and universities such as fine arts, visual arts, jewellery and computer sculpting.
The production of the Canadian precious metal commemorative coin project is entirely the responsibility of the Ottawa Mint, a subsidiary of the Royal Mint. For example, the annual 1 ounce commemorative silver coin project in Canada and the 1 kg commemorative gold coin project of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics are all from the Ottawa Mint. In addition, the Ottawa Mint is also responsible for the production and purification of precious metal commemorative coins, including 99.99% of silver raw materials and 99.999% of gold raw materials. At the same time, the precious metal commemorative coins related technology research and development team is also located in the Ottawa Mint, they continue to develop new technologies and new processes, so that the Canadian Mint's products are more market competitiveness, has been recognized by collectors around the world .
The sales of Canadian precious metal commemorative coins in North America mainly take the form of telephone shopping and online sales. There are also retail stores in Ottawa and Winnipeg, home of Canada. In addition, we also sell through a worldwide distribution and retail network.
Reporter: We know that the common currency produced by the Royal Canadian Mint, the Maple Leaf Coin, has a fineness of 99.999%. It is unique in the world. The related production technology is in the leading position in the world, and the Royal Canadian Mint still attaches great importance so far. For innovation in production technology, please tell us about this situation.
Ian Bennett: The Royal Mint is the first mint company in the world to have a professional R&D team. Our team has technologies in metal purification, laser engraving, metal etching, holographic currency and color currency production. Living in the world leader. We have superb gold, silver raw material purification technology, purification process will not cause pollution to the environment, we have created a new standard for precious metal commemorative coin purification.
We recently produced 100 kg of Maple Leaf gold coins with a fineness of 99.999% and a denomination of 1 million Canadian dollars. At the same time, we also have the most advanced 99.999% pure universal gold coin production line in the world, which is used to produce the highest purity investment gold coin in the world - Maple Leaf Coin, creating a record of the purity of the world's gold coins. This purity record is a reflection of the comprehensive capabilities of the Royal Mint's technology research and development, raw material purification and manufacturing. We also produced the largest gold coin in the world - 100 kg of Maple Leaf Coin. After the production and distribution of this size of precious metal commemorative coin, it has received attention and invitation from all over the world. During the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, this 100-kilogram gold coin was exhibited at the Beijing Olympic Games Expo and met with a large number of collectors and philatelists.
The unprecedented attention that this commemorative coin received was beyond our expectation. It also made us realize that the mint must continue to innovate and improve in order to maintain its vigor and vitality.
Reporter: In 2008, the Royal Canadian Mint spent its 100th anniversary. Please tell the Chinese collectors about the history of the Royal Canadian Mint over the past 100 years.
Ian Bennett: On January 2, 1908, with the Governor of Canada, the Earl Grey made the first Canadian national currency - 50 cents, marking the official establishment of the Royal Mint. In the past century, the Royal Mint has played an important role in Canada’s economic and social system, and has produced outstanding achievements in the transmission of Canadian history and culture through the production of commemorative coins and currency.
The Royal Mint has two mints in Ottawa and Winnipeg, of which the Ottawa Mint is mainly responsible for mold making, commemorative coin production, production of gold coins and medals, and Winnipeg was established in 1976. The Mint is mainly responsible for the large-scale production of currency and the production of foreign currency coins.
At the beginning of its establishment, the Royal Canadian Mint was only a branch of the British Mint, producing a small amount of currency. In 1931, the Royal Mint officially departed from the British Mint and became a currency production agency under the Canadian government. In 2004, the mint issued the world's first color currency currency. In 2007, the world’s first 100 kilograms of custom-made gold coins with a purity of 99.999% was issued. These achievements are the results of the continuous improvement of the Royal Mint over the past 100 years.
