Canadian Gold Sovereigns were minted at the Royal Mint in Ottawa. The Ottawa Mint began minting coins in 1908. British sovereigns were struck in Canada at the Ottawa mint between 1908 and 1919.
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Rare Gold Sovereigns ewre produced in Canada for the Royal Mint in the early 1900s
The Canadian Mint at Ottawa only struck gold sovereigns for ten years between 1908 and 1919. All of these are scarce, some rare, and two of the dates are extremely rare. The Ottawa mint was set up to coin the gold, which had only recently been discovered in British Columbia and in the Klondike, into gold sovereigns. It opened on January 2nd 1908, and this was the first date of British gold sovereign to be minted in Canada, although it is one of the two extremely rare dates. Naturally the mint produced other coins in silver and base metal, the first coin struck at the Canadian Mint was a fifty-cent piece. The mint still operates today, and is known as The Royal Canadian Mint. It was made a Crown Corporation on April 1st 1969. No sovereigns were struck in the years 1912 or 1915. Coins dated 1908 to 1911 depict King Edward VII; coins dated 1913 to 1919 feature the portrait of King George V. Both coins feature the classic design of King George and the dragon on the reverse. The distinctive “C” mintmark can be found on all Canadian sovereigns on the reverse just below the horse’s hooves on the ground-line just above the date.
Full Mintage Figures for Ottawa Mint Gold Sovereigns.
| Sovereign | Half Sovereign | |
| Gold Sovereign 1908 Ottawa Mint | 633 / 636(*) | None Issued |
| Gold Sovereign 1909 Ottawa Mint | 16,300 / 16,273(*) | None Issued |
| Gold Sovereign 1910 Ottawa Mint | 28,020 / 28,012(*) | None Issued |
| Gold Sovereign 1911 Ottawa Mint | 257,048 / 256,946(*) | None Issued |
| Gold Sovereign 1913 Ottawa Mint | 3,717 / 3,371 / 3,715(*) | None Issued |
| Gold Sovereign 1914 Ottawa Mint | 14,900 / 14,891(*) | None Issued |
| Gold Sovereign 1916 Ottawa Mint | 6,119 / 6,111(*) | None Issued |
| Gold Sovereign 1917 Ottawa Mint | 58,875 / 58,845(*) | None Issued |
| Gold Sovereign 1918 Ottawa Mint | 106,570 / 106,516(*) | None Issued |
| Gold Sovereign 1919 Ottawa Mint | 135,957 / 135,889(*) | None Issued |
(*) Wikipedia figures, other way we use figures published by the Royal Mint.
- Canadian Sovereigns were made in the years 1908, 1909 and 1910 featuring King Edward VII and with the Mint Mark C.
- Canadian Sovereigns featuring King George V were also made at Ottawa in the following Years:
- 1910, 1913, 1914, 1916, 1917, 1918 and 1919 all with Mint Mark C. The rarest of these are the 1913 (3,715minted) and 1916 the rarest off all (6,111 minted, just 50 pieces are known to exist today) as these have low mintage numbers.
In 1910, they began minting Gold Sovereigns at the refinery and coined 256,946 sovereigns. King George V took the throne after the death of his father and his effigy appeared on all subsequent sovereigns. In 1931, the Ottawa branch of the Royal Mint was transformed into the Royal Canadian Mint.
A one-hundred-dollar gold coin was minted for the XXI Olympic Games in Montreal.
Few minted, fewer survive
Befitting the old adage that “the sun never set on the British Empire,” British gold sovereign Kings were minted on five different continents by 1900. Out of the seven different mints worldwide that produced sovereigns, the Canada mint produced by far the fewest. Indeed, the original mintage totals for Canadian sovereigns are miniscule compared to the other mints, and most of its coins were heavily circulated as currency at the time.
Exceedingly scarce in BU.
Today, Canada-minted British gold sovereign Kings are quite scarce in Brilliant Uncirculated (BU) condition, and difficult to source in any substantial quantity. When somebody locate these special coins, they typically find only a handful. Exhibiting sharp strikes and rich gold luster, these Canadian Kings will not last long!
Great for set collectors!
Canada-minted British sovereigns are in high demand among collectors of sovereign sets featuring a BU British King from all five continents or all seven mints. Don’t miss this great chance to add scarce and exquisite Canadian Kings to your collection!
In 1979 the gold Maple leaf was minted and this contained 1 troy ounce of Gold. The Maple Leaf is 24 carat gold and is the only gold coin of this quality. A number of commemorative gold coins have since appeared including a very high-tech coin incorporating a hologram.
The First coin was struck by the Governor General Earl Gray. This was the Dominion of Canada first domestically minted coin. It was a silver 50 Cent piece and featured the effigy of His Majesty King Edward VII.
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