Canada's New $20 Coin Honours 'Pioneering Black Settlers' & It Costs More Than You Think

The Royal Canadian Mint just revealed a new coin commemorating and honouring "pioneering Black settlers" who started new lives in Canada.

If you want to get your hands on this coin, it'll cost you and the price tag is more expensive than you think it would be!

This 99.99% pure silver coin that's part of the Mint's Commemorating Black History fine silver coin series was released on January 27, 2024.

It honours the community of Amber Valley, Alberta which was founded in 1910 by African American families who came from Oklahoma, Texas and surrounding states.

These families travelled to Canada to start new lives away from segregationist laws, racial hostility, and violence in the U.S. and to take up the federal government's offer of free land in the Canadian West.

By 1910, there were around 300 men, women and children living in the community. Originally called Pine Creek, it was renamed Amber Valley in 1931.

The "2024 $20 Fine Silver Coin – Commemorating Black History: Amber Valley" released by the Royal Canadian Mint celebrates the legacy of the men and women who built one of the earliest Black settlements in Western Canada.

It was designed by artist Valentine De Landro and shows a homesteader family arriving in Pine Creek in 1909 and looking over the land that would become Amber Valley.

The design includes a wagon train of settlers to symbolize their journey and log cabins which were the first houses built by the Black pioneers who settled in Alberta.

There is also a map outline of the province of Alberta along with a bough of maple leaves.

"We are delighted to share the inspiring story of Amber Valley and the pioneering Black settlers who succeeded in building a new life in a new land," said Marie Lemay, the president and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint.

It is "another example of the spirit and resilience of Black communities across Canada," Lemay noted.

Myrna Wisdom, a historian and the cofounder of The Black Settlers of Alberta and Saskatchewan Historical Society, shared that their parents and grandparents were settlers of Amber Valley.

"I appreciate the recognition this coin represents," Wisdom said. "The Black settlers of Amber Valley are indeed deserving."

If you want this new coin, you won't be able to find it in your change because it's not a circulation coin — it's a collectible which means you have to buy it.

There is a limited mintage of 5,500 of the 2024 $20 Fine Silver Coin — Commemorating Black History: Amber Valley.

It costs $104.95 and this new collectible coin can be ordered online or by calling the Mint at 1-800-267‑1871.

You can also purchase it at the Royal Canadian Mint's boutiques in Ottawa and Winnipeg, at participating Canada Post outlets, and through the Mint's global dealers and distributors.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.