The Royal Canadian Mint is proud to demonstrate its skill and craftsmanship with a new selection of precious metal collector coins celebrating symbols of Canadian heritage ranging from prehistory to heraldry. These new collector products include a $300 platinum coin featuring the giant prehistoric ground sloth, a $300 gold New Brunswick Coat of Arms coin and extra-thick “Piedfort” pure gold and silver Maple Leaf coins.

“The Royal Canadian Mint values the role its collector coins play in showcasing Canada’s vast heritage through precious and unforgettable works of art and craftsmanship,” said Ian E. Bennett, President and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint.

“Collectors from Canada and around the world will find that the Mint’s newest collector coins honour the tradition of celebrating Canada’s defining features through keepsakes of uncompromising quality”.

The following are descriptions of the products now available to collectors and gift givers worldwide.

2010 $10 1/5-OZ PURE GOLD AND 2010 $5 1-OZ PURE SILVER PIEDFORT COINS – MAPLE LEAF

The Royal Canadian Mint is proud to celebrate its expertise and artistry in the field of precious metal refining and manufacturing with a pair of pure gold and silver “Piedfort” coins whose exceptional thickness distinguishes them from ordinary coins and makes them spectacular gifts or collectibles for those with an eye for the exclusive.

Both the $10 1/5 oz. 99.999% pure gold coin -the Mint’s first gold Piedfort, and the 1 oz. 99.99% pure silver coin -only the second of these coins the Mint has produced in silver, feature the iconic maple leaf, long symbolic of the Mint’s leadership of the world bullion industry. Only 3,000 1/5 oz. coins of 99.999% pure gold and 9,000 silver one-ounce coins of 99.99% purity are being made available in this exciting release.

The entire mintage of 99.999% pure gold coins Piedfort coin is offered as part of a set including the 99.99% pure silver Piedfort coin, retailing at $679.95 CAD. Another 6,000 individual silver Piedfort coins are being offered at $79.95 CAD each.

2010 $300 PLATINUM COIN — GROUND SLOTH

The fourth issue in the Mint’s exclusive Prehistoric Animals Collection of 9995 fine platinum coins features the gigantic Jefferson’s Ground Sloth, so called after the third President of the United States of America donated, in 1797, the first fossil specimens found in North America to Philadelphia’s American Philosophical Society. The tradition of showcasing the fascinating animals which roamed ancient Canada continues on this precious Mint coin containing a full ounce of pure platinum. Like the rare bones of the creature it immortalizes, this platinum coin has been made in very low quantities, with a worldwide mintage of only 200 examples. Designed by Alberta artist Kerri Burnett, this coin retails for $2,999.95 CAD.

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Veteran numismatists may remember the great rush on silver dollars that occurred during the early 1960s. For generations these coins had laid undisturbed in Treasury and Federal Reserve vaults, serving primarily as a backing for silver certificates. When, in 1935, Congress changed the written obligation appearing on silver certificates so that the notes could be redeemed “in silver” instead of in “silver dollars,” production of these coins ceased. Only in the far western states were silver dollars used in daily commerce, and even collectors showed little interest in Morgan and Peace Dollars.

Starting about 1958, however, the number of silver dollars being withdrawn from government vaults increased annually, reaching a fever pitch in 1963-64. In November 1962, during an annual distribution, it was discovered that there were some rare and valuable dates, still sealed in their original mint bags, all in uncirculated condition, among the millions of dollar coins still in the Treasury vaults.

Following the discovery of previously scarce dates. Collectors/investors/dealers lined up to purchase them in $1,000 bags, trading silver certificates for the coins.
Lines stretching for blocks formed around the Treasury Department headquarters in Washington, as speculators bought up silver certificates to redeem them for $1000 bags of “cartwheels.”  In March of 1964 the Treasury, after having discovered many bags of scarce CC dollars, stopped redeeming silver certificates with silver dollars, offering bars or granules in their place. After June 24, 1968 the redemption of silver certificates in silver ceased altogether, though the notes remain legal tender to this day.

The Treasury then inventoried its remaining stock of dollar coins, and found approximately 3,000 bags containing 3 million coins. Many of the remaining coins were Carson City mint dollars, which even then carried a premium. These coins were turned over to The General Services Administration (GSA) for sorting , marketing and disposal at a profit to the government. The GSA sorted the coins into several categories, the most populous of which was the “Uncirculated CC” and in a series of sales lasting from  to 1973 to 1980, the dollar hoard was dispersed via auction and fixed prices.

1971 Video of Transportation, and Sorting of GSA Dollar Hoard

Five sales were conducted in 1973 and 1974, but sales were poor, and the results unspectacular. There was much complaining among the coin buying public, many stating that the United States Government should not be in the “coin business”, especially considering that the government had spent little more than a dollar to mint and store each coin. After these sales, more than a million coins were still left unsold.

This remaining hoard, mostly Morgan Dollars minted at Carson City (CC) sat  until 1979-1980, where, amidst an extraordinarily volatile precious metals market, the remaining coins were sold under chaotic conditions. The GSA, having published minimum bids in November 1979, announced on January 2, 1980, that those minimum bids were no longer valid, and that prospective bidders would have to “call in” to a toll free number to get current minimum bids. Then, on February 21, 13 days after the bidding process officially began, the maximum number of coins per bidder was changed from 500 to 35. Many bidders, under these confusing conditions, ended up with no coins at all. Complaints again flooded in to Congress, but the damage had already been done, and the last silver dollars held by the United States Treasury were gone.Sealed in rigid plastic holders and boxed with a message from then President Richard M. Nixon, these silver dollars account for most of the mint state CC Morgans known today.

The United States Mint will offer collectible bags and two-roll sets containing Grand Canyon National Park quarters beginning at noon Eastern Time (ET) on September 20. The two-roll sets are priced at $32.95 each and the 100-coin bags are priced at $35.95 each. The Grand Canyon National Park quarter is the fourth coin released through the United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters® Program.

Collectors may place their orders at the United States Mint’s secure Web site, http://www.usmint.gov/catalog, or at the toll-free number, 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468). Hearing- and speech-impaired customers may order at 1-888-321-MINT. A shipping and handling fee of $4.95 will be added to all domestic orders.

The bags and rolls contain coins that were struck on the main production floors of the United States Mint facilities at Denver and Philadelphia for use in general circulation. The two-roll set includes one roll each of 40 coins-one each bearing the “P” and “D” mint marks-wrapped in distinctive packaging displaying the name of the national park or site, state abbreviation, mint of origin, and “$10″, the face value of its contents. A tag is attached to each 100-coin bag denoting the mint of origin, name of the national park or site, and the state abbreviation.

The coin’s reverse (tails side) design, by United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver Phebe Hemphill, features a view of the granaries above the Nankoweap Delta in Marble Canyon near the Colorado River. (Marble Canyon is the northernmost section of the Grand Canyon.) Inscriptions on the reverse are GRAND CANYON, ARIZONA, 2010 and E PLURIBUS UNUM. The design featured on the coin’s obverse (heads side) is the 1932 portrait of George Washington by John Flanagan, restored to bring out subtle details and the beauty of the original model. Inscriptions on the obverse are UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and QUARTER DOLLAR.

The United States Mint, created by Congress in 1792, is the Nation’s sole manufacturer of legal tender coinage. Its primary mission is to produce an adequate volume of circulating coinage for the Nation to conduct its trade and commerce. The United States Mint also produces proof, uncirculated, and commemorative coins; Congressional Gold Medals; and silver, gold and platinum bullion coins.