Canada Day has a way of making us notice things we usually walk right past without even thinking about them. The flag is raised. Fireworks light up the sky. And somewhere in your pocket, there are a few coins that you’ve probably handled a hundred times this week without paying them any mind.
The animals depicted on these coins are not there by chance. Each one was carefully chosen, and the stories behind them are more interesting than most people realize.
The loon could very well have looked completely different
When the 1 $ coin was introduced in 1987, the plan was to feature the design that had appeared on silver dollars since 1935: a canoe on the water, a classic image of Canada. The die blanks were produced, packaged, and shipped to Winnipeg for minting. Then they went missing during transit and were never found.
Faced with the need to start from scratch, the Mint turned to a design that had already been proposed: a loon swimming on the water, created by artist Robert-Ralph Carmichael. Canadians embraced it immediately. The coin became known as the «huard» so quickly that the word is now commonly used to refer to the dollar itself. It’s hard to imagine calling it anything else.
The polar bear on the 2 $ coin
The 2 $ coin entered circulation in 1996, replacing the 2 $ bill, and brought the polar bear with it. Canada is one of only five countries in the world with a wild polar bear population. As the largest living land carnivore, found in Manitoba, Ontario, and Nunavut, it deserves its place on the country’s highest-denomination circulation coin.
The year 2026 also marks the 30th anniversary of the 2 $ coin. Thirty years is long enough that many Canadians have never known a world without it.
The caribou on the 25¢ coin
The caribou has appeared on the Canadian 25-cent coin since 1937, making it one of the longest-running coin designs in the country’s history. It has been temporarily replaced a few times by commemorative designs, but it always returns.
Nearly 90 years on the same piece. That says a lot.
The beaver on the 5¢ coin
The beaver has also appeared on the 5¢ coin since 1937, and its presence reflects the central role this animal played in Canada’s early history. During the fur trade, hundreds of thousands of pelts passed through Canada each year on their way to European markets. The beaver was not just a wild animal; it helped lay the economic foundations of the nascent Canada.
In 1975, it was officially recognized as a symbol of Canadian sovereignty by an act of Parliament. It is the only animal featured on coins to hold this designation. The others are national symbols by tradition, but the beaver has been recognized by law.
It was briefly replaced on the 5¢ coin between 1943 and 1945 by a wartime victory emblem, before resuming its place after the war, where it has appeared continuously ever since.
The true value of these coins
As legal tender, a loonie is worth one dollar, and a 2 $ coin is worth two dollars. However, coins from certain years of issue, certain varieties, and uncirculated specimens may have a collector’s value greater than their face value, particularly coins that have never been put into circulation. Today’s circulation coins are made of steel and nickel, not precious metals. Silver and gold are reserved for collector coins and bullion coins produced separately by the Mint. If you’ve inherited a coin collection or found old Canadian coins in a drawer, some of these older coins may contain a significant amount of precious metal that’s worth having appraised.
If you're curious to find out what you have, bring them to us.
Happy Canada Day!
These animals have been in Canadians’ pockets for decades. You see them in piggy banks, in coin jars on kitchen counters, and at the bottom of old handbags. They’ve become so familiar that most people don’t even notice them anymore.
On this July 1, why not take a moment to look at them in a different light?.
Stop by one of our locations across Canada, no appointment necessary.
