2024 Canada 50-cent Tribute: W Mint Mark - Coat of Arms Fine Silver (No Tax)

2024 Canada 50-cent Tribute: W Mint Mark - Coat of Arms Fine Silver (No Tax)

The Royal Canadian Mint’s Tribute: W Mint Mark series continues with Coin #3

Proudly minted at the Royal Canadian Mint's Winnipeg facility, the circulation-themed Tribute: W Mint Mark series continues with Coin #3.

It is rarely used in day-to-day transactions but Canada’s 50-cent coin continues to be a favourite of collectors year after year. Our most elusive circulating coin denomination is celebrated on the third Tribute: W Mint Mark collectible, which invites a renewed appreciation for the intricate heraldic design that imbues this “minted in Winnipeg” tribute with a stately quality.

The Dominion of Canada debuted a 50-cent coin as part of the first national coinage issued in 1870 – the year Manitoba entered Confederation as Canada’s fifth province, and more than a century before the Winnipeg plant was established. Once our high-tech facility in Winnipeg was established, its presses have produced every 50-cent circulation coin since 1976, including a commemorative “Canada 150” edition in 2017 – one of the few modern issues with a different reverse design than the heraldic art seen on this coin.

The Royal Canadian Mint’s Winnipeg facility produces up to 4 billion circulation coins in total per year, and while mintages for the other denominations each figure in the millions, only a few hundred thousand 50-cent pieces are produced each year – and they are only available as rolls or in coin sets.

A numismatic tribute to Canada’s 50-cent circulation piece, this all-silver coin’s reverse features the Canadian Coat of Arms design by Cathy Bursey-Sabourin, along with the “W” (Winnipeg) mint mark denoting where this coin was struck. The obverse features the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt. The obverse also bears a special marking that includes four pearls symbolizing the four effigies that have graced Canadian coins and the double date of her reign.

Specifications:
RCM Number: 209004
Mintage: 7,500
Composition: 99.99% pure silver
Weight: 31.39 g
Diameter: 38 mm
Face Value: 50-cents
Finish: Tailored Specimen
Edge: Serrated
Artist: Cathy Bursey-Sabourin (reverse), Susannah Blunt (obverse)

Special Features:

• From the Winnipeg Mint. You’ve never seen Canada’s circulation coin designs quite like this: in 99.99% pure silver with a tailored specimen finish, and bearing the “W” mint mark of the Winnipeg Mint.
• “W” Mint Mark. Coin #3 of a six-part series of 1 oz. 99.99% pure silver coins, a rarity for the Winnipeg Mint, which typically focuses its efforts on circulation coins rather than numismatic ones, and that’s why the “W” mint mark is so unique.
• Tailored specimen finish. There’s a satin sheen to the 50-cent coin’s reverse design, and the field’s textured appearance is the result of angled lines inspired by the Winnipeg Mint’s pyramid-shaped building.
• Celebrate Canada’s circulation coins. An affordable series for collectors of all ages, the new Tribute: W Mint Mark series celebrates Canada’s circulation coins and tells their story. This is the first pure silver numismatic series struck at our Winnipeg facility.
• Honouring history. These circulation coin designs are part of Canada’s history and our heritage, and who better to tell their story than the facility that produces them!
  • The series continues in 2024. The series kicked off in 2023 with a tribute to the $2 circulation coin, and there’s still more to come:
    • Coin 1: Polar Bear
    • Coin 2: Loon
    • Coin 3: Coat of Arms
    • Coin 4: Caribou
    • Coin 5: Bluenose
    • Coin 6: Beaver

Packaging:
The coin is encapsulated and presented in a black Royal Canadian Mint-branded clamshell with a black beauty box.