Royal Canadian Mint Offers 1912-1914 Gold Coins

Today, the Royal Canadian Mint announced that they are offering for sale to the public a collection of Canada’s first gold coins, which were produced from 1912 to 1914. The $5 and $10 gold coins in the collection have been stored at the Bank of Canada for more than 75 years.

The highest quality examples of the coins will be offered for sale to convert the proceeds into quality fixed-income securities. Less visually appealing examples will be refined into 99.99% pure gold to liquidate the balance of the holdings.

The obverse designs of the coins feature the effigy of King George V wearing coronation robes and the Imperial State Crown. The reverse features a shield bearing the national arms of the dominion of Canada: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. The shield is encircled with maple branches with the inscription “Canada” above and the date and denomination below.

The $5 Gold Coins have a composition of 90% gold and 10% copper, with a diameter of 21.59 mm and weight of 8.26 grams yielding a net weight of .2419 troy ounces of gold. The $10 Gold Coins have a composition of 90% gold, 10% copper, with a diameter of 26.92 mm, with a weight of 16.72 grams yielding a net weight of .4838 troy ounces of gold.

The Guide Book of Canadian Coins lists mintages for the $5 Gold Coins as 165,860 (1912), 98,832 (1913), and 31,122 (1914). The mintages for the $10 Gold Coins are listed at 74,759 (1912), 149,232 (1913), and 140,068 (1914).

According to information distributed by the Royal Canadian Mint, only a small number of the 1912, 1913, and 1914 gold coins remained in the hands of individual collectors, while the bulk of the coins were kept out of circulation. This seems to have contributed to higher values for the coins, particularly examples in gem condition. My Guide Book shows prices of up to $7,750 for the $5 Gold Coins in MS65 and up to $19,550 for the $10 Gold Coins in MS65. Only a handful of gold coins from these dates are listed for sale on eBay with one of the finest coins being a 1913 $10 Gold Coins graded PCGS MS63 at a buy it now price of $2,350.

The sale of the collection of gold coins held in storage will no doubt have an immediate and significant impact on values. This could be similar to the impact seen in the United States resulting from Treasury release of silver dollars and the later sales of Carson City silver dollars conducted by the GSA.

The Royal Canadian Mint has not assigned grades to the coins which will be sold, but has separated them into different categories classified as “Premium Hand Selected” and “Hand Selected” coins.  Pricing is $875 CAD or $500 CAD for the $5 Gold Coins, and $1,750  or $1,000 for the $10 Gold Coins. A six coin set of premium hand selected coins is also available for $12,000 CAD.

Visit www.mint.ca/1912gold to place orders or for more information.

Ian E. Bennett, President of the Royal Canadian Mint Board and Marc Carney, Governor of the Bank of Canada unveil Canada’s first gold coins at the Mint’s Gold Refinery Vault in Ottawa, Ontario on November 28, 2012.  Produced by the Mint from 1912 to 1914 and previously stored at the Bank of Canada for over 75 years, the coins are now available for purchase from the Mint.

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Comments

  1. CW says

    Does anyone have an idea on what one might expect in terms of grading with the two price points for coin? Regardless kudos to the Canadian govt. for doing this.

  2. ibex says

    I bought one of the 1914 $5 hand-selecteds, approx 1/4 oz gold in the $5 so thats about $65 premium over spot, not bad for really old coin. I’m guessing all the $5 coins will sellout eventually, only 1913/14 HS left at this time. Didn’t bother with $10. Can always cancel later if you change your mind, given how long it takes RCM to ship anything you might have lots of time.

  3. Sam H says

    Then again, you get free shipping with the $10 coin and immediate acceptance into the primier club for the Royal Canadian Mint

  4. ibex says

    Hmm didn’t pay any shipping on the $5 and US doesn’t pay the 13% like the poor Canadians have to.

  5. Sam H says

    Imagine how pissed you would be if you had one of these coins, valued at $6500, only to have the RCM flood the market on you with this release

  6. Louis says

    I think this is a really cool opportunity. Imagine how Americans would go crazy if our first gold coins resurfaced! Plus the prices for the $5 coins are very reasonable. It will be interesting to see how many they release, but 31K is a low mintage no matter what.

  7. Shutter says

    the prices for the $5 coins are very reasonable

    That depends on what condition they are in. Recently 1912 and 1913 $5 in NGC MS62 realized $575 (including BP). 1913 MS63 went for $750. A few more will go next Wednesday. It’d be interesting to see if those prices will be lower.

  8. Ralph says

    Well, there goes the last of Canadians Gold reserves. Leaving 12% of the gold for those interested at a premium to spot prices is nefarious. Collectors will lose a fair amount of value to their collections due this action, and Canadians will lose the last remaining tie to having a currency backed by a tangible asset.

    Sunny how no articles have sprung up relating to Canada selling off the last of its Gold Reserves, I thought this would have been a bigger story

  9. CW says

    I pulled the trigger. It was sold out on the cheaper ’12 and ’14 $5 gold, so I bought a ’13 $5 gold coin (lower price point). Still pretty excited.

  10. saucexx says

    Per the article the amount being released is fairly low. In addition the remaining coins will be melted down.

    http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/28/5016661/a-national-treasure-resurfaces.html

    The following coins are being made available to the public:

    Premium Hand-Selected 6-Coin Set (140 sets – $12,000 each)
    Premium Hand-Selected 1912, 1913 and 1914 $5 single gold coins (291 coins – $875 each)
    Premium Hand-Selected 1913 and 1914 $10 single gold coins (4,869 coins – $1,750 each)
    Hand-Selected 1912, 1913 and 1914 $5 single gold coins (5,050 coins – $500 each)
    Hand-Selected 1912, 1913 and 1914 $10 single gold coins (18,950 coins – $1,000 each)

    I’m in for two of the 1914 $5 HS gold. I figured it had the lowest mintage of the bunch, only 5500 of all the $ dates were being released and it wasn’t that much of a premium over spot. I figured it was low risk, so we’ll see.

  11. saucexx says

    hw.

    It looks mint state to me but low MS 61-63 maybe 64. But obviously if that’s their best example then everything else would be a lower grade.

    Anybody have an idea of what the surviving population would be including the potential numbers I’ve listed above? Anyway you cut it the mintage is low.

  12. TomP says

    $500 is a pretty good price for any 30’s or earlier $5 US/Canadian gold piece. My order was taken for the 1913.

  13. Louis says

    Look at this why you pay around $500 for a 1/4 ounce gold eagle which will never be worth more than the gold content but here you get a coin with historic value.

  14. Dan says

    Michael

    I hope you will revisit this topic again in early january when these coins ship. I am curious to see how anyone else who ordered coins may feel about them when received. Thanks

  15. G says

    They are mostly sold out now. I think it’s an exciting possibility. I wonder if they third party graders will recognize the ‘hoard’ on the holders?

  16. says

    The photos and video show Mint State coins. There are no “ware” marks, only “bag marks” The coins I saw in the Mint’s promo would grade in MS62-MS63. On a good day for the collector might go MS64. Anyone with an earlier collected coin graded MS65 or above has nothing to worry about in regards to price devaluation from the release of these coins. In fact the price of the higher graded coins may well increase as the population reports will show a lower percentage of higher graded coins and there for suggest a higher value for an higher graded coin. I think these coins show potential for increased value not only for their bullion value but for a numismatic value as well.

  17. aden crane says

    in my humble opinion….its a bonanza for collectors ….only 30,000 have been released mostly to people who probably wont sell them so it wont shouldnt affect the prices in the medium to long term…you cant compare this to the CC usa dollar release of millions of coins…… we are talking teeny numbers here so anyone who scores directly from the mint is a winner..except for the 12,000.00 set which seem overpriced but even then at only 140 sets its possibly or probably good long term investment

  18. gatortreke says

    I looked at the RCM website tonight and see the 1914 coins have not sold out yet. The program states the mint will melt the unsold coins. I’m not sure how long the Mint will keep these coins available for sale but is it possible these end up being rarer than expected due to poorer sales?

  19. says

    I received my 1913 premium hand selected $10. gold coin yesterday. Almost threw up. It looked like it was put in a clothes dryer with the other 30,000 coins for a full hour.Almost $2,000.00 with tax a crying shame. The 3 -1912 $5. coins hand selected I received put it to shame.Virtually unblemished in comparison.Not at all happy and no returns or exchanges.

  20. BS says

    It’s great that Canada, lets you see in vault!
    Would love to see what is or is not in Fort Knox!

  21. ep says

    I just paid Premier Coins $7000 for a 1914 $10 Canadian gold Reserve PCGS MS-65. The coin is beautiful

  22. Boz says

    So how about a 2015 update on the blog to let us know how these are doing on the post-release market?

  23. IJTR says

    So how about a 2019 update?
    Fewer of these than the overhyped 2019 enhanced reverse proof S mintASE

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