2006 Lucky Loonie
This coin, which features the familiar loon in flight along with the official emblem of the Canadian Olympic Team, serves as a good luck charm for Canadian athletes competing at the 2006 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. 2008 Lucky Loonie
The 2008 Lucky Loonie features a common Loon getting ready to take flight with the Canadian Olympic Team's logo at its side. The Mint has provided each member of the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Teams competing in Beijing with a Lucky Loonie as their own personal good luck charm.
Balance and composition – the 2-dollar coin
The 2-dollar coin, or 'Toonie', as Canadians have named it, features the image of an adult polar bear in early summer on an ice floe. It was designed by wildlife and landscape artist Brent Townsend. The 2-dollar coin was first introduced on February 19, 1996, to replace the 2-dollar bill. The 'Toonie' has a life span approximately 20 times longer than paper currency and is manufactured using a distinctive bi-metallic coin locking mechanism patented by the Royal Canadian Mint. Reverse side designs | Technical specifications | Mintages
Reverse side designs
The Many Faces of the \
\guide showing the many faces of the more than 675 million two-dollar circulation coins which have entered circulation since their introduction in 1996.
The design of this bi-metallic coin with the Polar Bear on its reverse, or \Royal Canadian Mint continues to use its coins to celebrate Canada's history, culture and values. The same has happened to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's portrait on the obverse, or \image was updated on all of Canada's circulation coinage in 2003.
Follow this guide to help you better understand and appreciate the diverse features of the \circulating today.
The 2010 Two-Dollar Circulation Coin
Reverse (Tails Side) Weight (g): 7.3 Diameter (mm): 28 Thickness (mm): 1.8
* Applies to all coins from 1996 to present Features:
Obverse (Heads Side)
Composition: Outer ring of 99% nickel and inner core of 92% copper, 6% aluminum and 2% nickel*
? A special locking mechanism allows the outer ring and the core to stay locked together. This mechanism has been developed by the Royal Canadian Mint and is patented. The inner core of the coin can withstand up to 181 kilos of pressure, or about ten times the pressure the average human hand can exert.
? The coin has a unique electromagnetic signal which allows each coin to be accepted to rejected by coin accepting machines such as vending, parking, transit, and coin counting machines.
? ?
The coin is made of pure alloy material and the manufacturing process requires specialized equipment.
Since 2006, the bottom of the obverse side features the Mint Mark, which consists of an encircled design composed of a stylized maple leaf emerging from the letter M.
The Two-Dollar Circulation Coin through History
(1996-1998 2001-2003)
When introduced in 1996, the two-dollar circulation coin showed a portrait of Her Majesty Queen
and
Elizabeth II designed by Canadian artist Dora de Pedery-Hunt. This image of Her Majesty appeared on all Canadian circulation coins
from 1990 to 2003. The iconic Polar Bear design on the reverse is the work of renowned wildlife artist Tony Bianco.
The Founding of Nunavut (1999)
Nunavut First Nations artist Germaine Arnaktauyok created a special design to commemorate
the founding of Nunavut, Canada's newest territory. This design appeared on all 1999 two-dollar coins produced for general circulation. In 1999, the Polar Bear design appeared only in a limited number of special coin sets produced for the collector market.
Path of
Knowledge (2000)
For the new millennium, artist Tony Bianco illustrated a female polar bear and her two cubs to
represent the transfer of
knowledge from one generation to the next. The inscription on the coin's outer rim reads \- Le Savoir.\\2000 two-dollar circulation coin.
The end of an era, the birth of a new effigy (2003)
2003 was the last year the Dora
de Pedery-Hunt design of Her Majesty's effigy appeared on the two-dollar circulation coin. In June 2003, the Government of Canada announced that an updated effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II would appear on all Canadian circulation coins in honour of the 50th anniversary of the Queen's
coronation. This design is the work of artist Susanna Blunt, whose prior experience with Buckingham Palace included painting a portrait of Prince Edward. It is by no mistake that two-dollar circulation coins dated 2003 show both the \and \Majesty.
Two new coins for
the
10th of
Anniversary the
two-dollar
coin
circulation (2006)
In celebration of the 10th
anniversary of its introduction, the two-dollar circulation coin was
produced in two versions: the first honouring the traditional Polar Bear design of artist Tony Bianco and the second featuring his updated pose of the bear looking up at the dramatic lines of an Aurora Borealis.
It is important to note the position of 1996-2006 double date on each coin: the traditional bear design shows the date beneath the effigy of Her Majesty, while the updated bear shows the date above the effigy.
In 2006, the Mint also introduced the Mint Mark on the obverse side of all Canadian circulation coinage. The Mint Mark
encompasses the three elements of the Mint's corporate name: M for Mint; a Maple leaf for Canadian; and a crown for Royal and Crown Corporation. It features the Mint design within a circle and consists of a symbol depicting a stylized maple leaf emerging from the letter M.
With the exception of the 2008 two-dollar circulation coin celebrating the 400th Anniversary of the founding of Quebec City, the Mint Mark always appears beneath the effigy of Her Majesty on the obverse of two-dollar circulation coins produced since 2006. Since the introduction of the Mint Mark, the maple leaf no longer appears above the effigy of Her Majesty.
400th Anniversary
of
the founding of Quebec
City
(2008)
Quebec artist Geneviève Bertrand won a design competition to create a new reverse of the two-dollar circulation coin commemorating the 400th anniversary of Quebec City. The date 1608 appeared on the left side of the outer ring, while 2008 appeared on the right of the ring on this commemorative coin's reverse side. Only six million of these special coins circulated, in addition to more than 17 million 2008 Toonies produced with the traditional Polar Bear design.
As the date was moved to the reverse side of this
commemorative coin, the Mint Mark was moved to the core of the coin on the obverse, to the immediate left of Her Majesty's effigy.