Canada Put Out So Many New Coins In 2022 & Your Change Has Never Been More Colourful (PHOTOS)
It's been a very colourful year in the world of coins.
The toonie with a black ring. Right: The Alexander Graham Bell loonie.
There have been loads of new coins in Canada this year, and some of these designs are pretty bold choices.
Every year, the Royal Canadian Mint releases new coins into general circulation and 2022 has been no different.
This year, it released about five coins that commemorate prominent Canadians or historical events, and some come in interesting colours too.
Here's a look at some of the new coins that were released in 2022. Did you manage to get your hand on any of these beauties?
The Queen Elizabeth Commemorative Toonie
The newest one on the list is a toonie that pays tribute to Queen Elizabeth II.
This coin will have all the elements of a standard $2 coin, including the monarch's face, but features a black outer ring, meant to evoke a mourning band.
Around five million of these coins are going to go into circulation this December as banks restock their supply of toonies over the last month of the year.
The Alexander Graham Bell Loonie
Did you know that Alexander Graham Bell had Canadian citizenship and spent years living in both Ontario and Nova Scotia? And did you know that he invented a lot more than just the telephone?
Well to celebrate all this and more, the Royal Canadian Mint released a bright and colourful loonie dedicated to him earlier this year.
This loonie features Bell with two of his inventions, the HD-4 Hydrofoil and the Silver Dart. The former was a marine vehicle and the latter an early aircraft.
It also has "175 Years" engraved on it, commemorating the inventor's birthday
There are about three million of these coins hitting circulation, with two million of them featuring a blue "colour enhancement."
The Bluenose Dime
An update on an old icon.
We all know that the Bluenose schooner is a mainstay of the Canadian dime, but to commemorate its 100th anniversary, the Mint released a special coin this year.
The coin features a redesign of the iconic ship, the first redesign since 1937. Not only that, but six million of the fifteen million coins have blue water, the first time in Canadian history that colour will be on a 10-cent coin.
You may have even seen this dime around as it's been rolling out this year.
The 1972 Summit Series Toonies
Hockey fans, rejoice!
This toonie commemorates the 50th anniversary of one of the most important sporting events in Canadian history — the Summit Series.
The Summit Series was an eight-game hockey series between Team Canada and Team USSR in 1972 where Canada came out triumphant.
The coin features two Canadian hockey players in the centre core with the words "The Series" and "50 Years" in the outer silver ring — plus it has the coach's initials as well as the numbers of each player.
Of the three million minted, two million will feature the players fully coloured. These started going out in late September, so keep your eyes peeled for them!
The Oscar Peterson Loonie
In August, the Mint released a loonie that featured Canadian jazz legend, Oscar Peterson.
On it, you can see Peterson playing away on the piano along with two bars from his song which became a major anthem to the civil rights movement of the 1960s "Hymn To Freedom."
Engraved with his name, this coin, which began circulating in August, will have a mintage of three million, with two million featuring the musician's favourite colour, purple.
Not only is this a fitting tribute to an icon, but it's also the first Canadian musician to be commemorated on a coin!
Moreover, if you have an extensive coin collection, be sure to check for any rare coins knocking around. If you do have them, you could be thousands of dollars richer.