Queen Elizabeth coin released after death most popular in Canada, sellers say – National | 24CA News
Colin Cutler has been going to coin reveals since he was 14 however has by no means come throughout a coin as common because the black-ringed toonie the Royal Canadian Mint launched to memorialize the late Queen Elizabeth.
“I have never seen a coin with this kind of demand in the 52 years I’ve been doing this,” stated the Chatham, Ont. man, who runs Collectors Corner Coins.
“There’s never been a coin that’s had this kind of response.”
The two-dollar coin with a black band of nickel-plated metal options the late monarch’s effigy within the centre of 1 aspect and the same old polar bear on an ice floe on the opposite. It’s marked 2022, the 12 months of the queen’s loss of life.
The mint produced about 5 million of the toonies, amounting to about one for each eight Canadians.
“So if you had one, seven of your friends couldn’t,” Cutler stated.
When the coin was as a consequence of be launched in December, he contacted the mint and was instructed there have been none left, so he scrambled to purchase two bins, or 1,000, of the toonies collectively price $2,000 from a distributor.
Within a month and a half, 700 had offered for $8 apiece and his itemizing on Facebook Marketplace had racked up greater than 10,000 views, far greater than the same old cash he sells which usually nab lower than 100 views.
Most of Cutler’s consumers weren’t collectors and even royalists.
“They just wanted to have something from Queen Elizabeth from her death,” he stated.
Jared Stapleton’s prospects weren’t collectors both, however individuals who noticed the queen as a grandmother-like determine.
“People really love the queen,” stated the proprietor of the Metro Coin and Bank Note store and director of the Toronto Coin Expo scheduled for May 5 and 6. “Whether they’ve met her or not, I think they can relate to her.”
Stapleton snatched up $20,000 price of the toonies and estimates he solely has $4,000 of the cash left. He’s despatched them to consumers all around the globe, like Cutler who had prospects so far as Paraguay, Bolivia, Mexico and the United States.
Most have been elated with the souvenir, however Cutler stated many share that they’re stunned the cash “don’t look as black as they do on the mint pictures.”
Spokesperson Deneen Perrin says the mint doesn’t have information on the recognition of the toonie, however public suggestions has been “overwhelmingly favourable.” Coin exchanges the mint hosted for the toonie have been “extremely well attended,” she added.
About 4.4 million are in circulation up to now, she added.
“I talked to people down here and nobody’s seen one in their pocket change,” stated Cutler. “But I do know that in the Toronto area there are some in circulation. I was in Mississauga two weeks ago and I got one in my change at McDonald’s.”
However, Cutler stated demand has dampened since February, when he seen the mint listed rolls of 25 cash on the market on its web site for $79.95.
“After that our sales dropped way off,” he stated, noting $79.95 is a a lot lower cost than his distributor charged.
He’s since dropped his worth to $4 apiece and has about 200 left. (Stapleton is charging between $4 and $5 per coin, down from the $6 he began at.)
Demand for the coin hasn’t picked up once more, regardless of King Charles’s May 6 coronation nearing, Cutler stated.
But individuals are stocking up on the 50 pence piece England has launched with King Charles’s effigy, stated Stapleton.
“A friend of mine came over from England and brought what he could. It was probably 200 coins and I’ve already sold a quarter of them,” he stated.
If Canada releases a circulation coin honouring the brand new monarch, Cutler expects it to generate much more buzz.
“Everybody’s waiting on the first coins with Charles on them,” he stated.
“But we don’t know if we’re going to see any this year because the mint cannot just go ahead and produce them. The mint has to wait for parliament to authorize them and so far parliament hasn’t done that.”
© 2023 The Canadian Press
