Canada 10 Dollars Gold Coin 1914 King George V
Canadian Gold Reserve Coinage 1912-1914
Obverse: Portrait of King George V in profile wearing his ceremonial robe and royal crown.
Lettering: GEORGIVS V DEI GRA: REX ET IND:IMP:
Engraver: Edgar Bertram MacKennal.
The British monarch George V reigned from the 6th of May 1910 until his death in 1936. The government planned to mint other gold coins with facial values like 2½ and 20 dollars in addition to the 5 and 10 ones. This never happened.
Reverse: The inscription 'Canada' above a shield with the arms of the Dominion of Canada, a wreath of maple leaves, the year of issue, and the face value TEN DOLLARS. The Canada coats of arms as given by Queen Victoria on May 26, 1868. They lie on top of 2 crossed maple branches. The shield is split in 4 parts, showing the coats of arms of the 4 provinces that created the Canada
- Ontario: 3 maple leaves below the St-George cross
- Quebec: 2 lilies at the top, a lion in the center and 3 maple leaves at the bottom
- New-Brunswick: an ancient galion with a lion above
- Nova Scotia: From top to bottom, 2 thistles, a salmon and another thistle
This reverse is considered as the most beautiful on a Canadian coin.
Lettering: CANADA 1914 TEN DOLLARS.
Engraver: W.H.J. Blakemore.
Edge: Reeded.
Years: 1912-1914.
Value: 10 Dollars.
Composition: .900 Gold, .100 Copper.
Weight: 16.7185 grams.
Diameter: 26.92 millimeters.
Thickness: 2.08 millimeters.
Shape: Round.
British parliament permitted the establishment of a mint on Canadian soil with the Ottawa Mint Act in 1901. However, it was not until 1908 that the Ottawa Branch of the British Royal Mint opened on Sussex Drive. Its intended purpose was to refine Canada's mined gold and convert it into gold coins as well as to produce Canadian domestic coins and British sovereigns. The mint in Ottawa received permission to produce $5 and $10 gold coins with Canadian imagery 2 years later, after the construction of a much needed refinery had already begun in 1909. Although the refinery was already complete in January 1911, the start of gold coin production was delayed until 1912 by the death of King Edward VII as well as indecision regarding the design of the coins.
The coins were meant to be distinctly Canadian. All the used gold came from Canadian sources, mostly from the Klondike region in 1912 and the Ontario region in 1913 and 1914. The design used Canada's de facto coat of arms on the reverse side. Production of the $5 and $10 gold coins, Canada's first gold coins ever, continued until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.
In 1914, just two years after the coins were introduced, the First World War began. The short-lived, experimental Canadian gold coin program was closed in 1915 in favor of producing lifeless gold bars, leaving behind only a small supply of gold coins for future generations of collectors to get their hands on!
As Canada engaged in the war sending its troops to fight with the Allies on the battlefields of Europe, the government of Canada took a tight hold of its gold reserves. Most of the gold coins produced for circulation would never reach the hands of Canadians. Instead, they were entrusted to the secure vaults of Canadian banks, the Department of Finance and eventually, the Bank of Canada. The mint replaced the gold coin production with the production of gold bars in 1915.
Many of the circulating $5 and $10 gold coins were recovered by the Canadian government. They were used to finance the war effort along with remaining stocks that had been withheld from circulation. The Bank of Canada kept the remaining coins in cloth bags for more than 75 years in their vaults. The Royal Canadian Mint recently started selling a collection of these historic coins. Out of a collection of about 245.000 George V $5 and $10 gold coins, 30.000 were hand-selected to be sold to the public. The remaining coins out of this collection will be melted and refined into pure gold by the Royal Canadian Mint.
Canadian Coins - King George V
Canadian Gold Reserve 10 Dollars Gold Coin 1914 King George V