Canada mints a 100-kilo coin

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Coriolis
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Canada mints a 100-kilo coin

Post by Coriolis »

The crazy canucks are at it again.
Yahoo! News wrote:OTTAWA - Got change for a million? Canada does: the world's biggest pure gold coin at 200 pounds. Already, three buyers have shelled out for one of the 1 million Canadian dollar coins introduced last week.


The Royal Canadian mint made the coins — 20 inches in diameter and 1 inch thick — mostly to seize the bragging rights from Austria, which had the record with a 70-pound, 15-inch wide coin.

"They're not doing this because there is huge demand for 100-kilo gold coins," Bret Evans, editor of Canadian Coin News said Saturday. "They're doing it because it gives them some bragging rights in having the largest purest gold coin in the world."

"They'll kick the Austrians out of the Guinness World Book of Records," he said.

Listed as 99.999 percent pure gold bullion, the coin features
Queen Elizabeth II on one side and Canada's national symbol — the maple leaf — on the other.

It takes about six weeks to make and has a face value of 1 million Canadian dollars ($903,628), though it sells for approximately $2.7 million depending on the market value of gold.

The coins will give the mint a higher international profile.

"We wanted to raise the bar so that we could say the government of Canada, or the Royal Canadian Mint, produced the purest gold coins in the world," said David Madge, the mint's director of bullion and refinery services.

Austria's coin 100,000 euro coin ($138,155) was 70 pounds and 15 inches in diameters.

Evans said the Canadian mint recently lost some market share as mints in Australia, Austria, China and the United States pushed their own high-quality gold coins.

What does one do with a 220-pound gold coin?

Evans said bullion dealers use it as a promotional tool. A Japanese dealer, he said, puts one of the Austrian coins in public venues to draw people's attention.

"And while they're looking at that, they are being exposed to the idea of buying one ounce or half-ounce gold coins," he said.
Here's a pic of the monstrosity:
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That thing makes me drool. :P
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Post by muse »

If I won the lottery jackpot I'd definitely buy one of these and mount it on the roof of my home for everyone to see. It will of course be electrified or something so anyone trying to make off with it will die a painful death.
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Post by Boyish-Tigerlilly »

You see, now all we need is a vending machine equipped to handle such a thing.

The object might make a neat tourist attraction.
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Re: Canada mints a 100-kilo coin

Post by TithonusSyndrome »

Evans said bullion dealers use it as a promotional tool. A Japanese dealer, he said, puts one of the Austrian coins in public venues to draw people's attention.

"And while they're looking at that, they are being exposed to the idea of buying one ounce or half-ounce gold coins," he said.
That's a lot of manhours wasted for a stupid "promotional tool". Somehow, though, it seems uniquely Canadian in it's futility.
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Post by Lisa »

looks like a giant penny
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Post by Sea Skimmer »

Another grand Canuckistani prestige project I see, shinny looking
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Post by B5B7 »

It would look more impressive if instead of saying its weight on it, it said ONE MILLION DOLLARS - after all it's supposed to be a coin and coins have their face value put on them.
Also, that way it could be used in a modern remake of the classic 'One Million Pound Note' movie; so instead of a cheque can have a coin [of course the cheque is easier to carry around, a 100 Kg coin is 'rather' less portable :lol: ].
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Post by Zed Snardbody »

B5B7 wrote:It would look more impressive if instead of saying its weight on it, it said ONE MILLION DOLLARS - after all it's supposed to be a coin and coins have their face value put on them.
Also, that way it could be used in a modern remake of the classic 'One Million Pound Note' movie; so instead of a cheque can have a coin [of course the cheque is easier to carry around, a 100 Kg coin is 'rather' less portable :lol: ].
Because bullion coins are an investment more in a commodity rather then being legal tender they have their weight and purity on them rather then the dollar value. The value of gold, silver, and platinum the main metals that bullion coins are minted in change from day to day.
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Post by Rogue 9 »

It might say that on the front; the picture is of the tails side. Is there a picture of the heads?
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Post by Keevan_Colton »

Rogue 9 wrote:It might say that on the front; the picture is of the tails side. Is there a picture of the heads?
I doubt it, it's the queen on it.
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Post by B5B7 »

Zed Snardbody wrote:
B5B7 wrote:It would look more impressive if instead of saying its weight on it, it said ONE MILLION DOLLARS - after all it's supposed to be a coin and coins have their face value put on them.
Also, that way it could be used in a modern remake of the classic 'One Million Pound Note' movie; so instead of a cheque can have a coin [of course the cheque is easier to carry around, a 100 Kg coin is 'rather' less portable :lol: ].
Because bullion coins are an investment more in a commodity rather then being legal tender they have their weight and purity on them rather then the dollar value. The value of gold, silver, and platinum the main metals that bullion coins are minted in change from day to day.
However, mints quite often print collector coins that have a face value on them eg $5, but that they sell for much more.
They could put the weight and purity value on the back in small print - any buyer will have an independent assay made - including weighing it.
It's collector value will only loosely be based on its pure metal value - after all the article itself says they are selling at a higher price than their current metal value.

Also it seems like the Canadian mint has waited until exactly 100 Kgs is considered to be $1,000,000 (Canadian) at current gold valuation. Of course more likely that just a lucky coincidence of timing.
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Post by AMX »

B5B7 wrote:Also it seems like the Canadian mint has waited until exactly 100 Kgs is considered to be $1,000,000 (Canadian) at current gold valuation. Of course more likely that just a lucky coincidence of timing.
No they didn't.
The Article wrote:It takes about six weeks to make and has a face value of 1 million Canadian dollars ($903,628), though it sells for approximately $2.7 million depending on the market value of gold.
Rogue 9 wrote:It might say that on the front; the picture is of the tails side. Is there a picture of the heads?
Let me try Google news...
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Article in German
Yes, it does have the face value on it.


But I think the Austrian one was prettier.
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Post by Andrew J. »

Boyish-Tigerlilly wrote:You see, now all we need is a vending machine equipped to handle such a thing.
But what would said machine dispense? A million cans of soda?
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Post by Admiral Valdemar »

I think the US needs to reprint that Marshall Plan one-trillion dollar bill again.
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Post by Enigma »

Andrew J. wrote:
Boyish-Tigerlilly wrote:You see, now all we need is a vending machine equipped to handle such a thing.
But what would said machine dispense? A million cans of soda?
Nope, 500,000 cans of soda. Unless of course it is Walmart then it would be 2 million cans. :)
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Post by Durandal »

That's nice, but you know what's nicer? Not having a currency called "the Looney". :)
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Post by muse »

Durandal wrote:That's nice, but you know what's nicer? Not having a currency called "the Looney". :)
I don't know about you, but I'd rather have a government that mints Loonies than a government that's filled with loonies. :)
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Post by Darth Wong »

Durandal wrote:That's nice, but you know what's nicer? Not having a currency called "the Looney". :)
You're the one whose currency tells you to trust God.
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Post by Edi »

muse wrote:
Durandal wrote:That's nice, but you know what's nicer? Not having a currency called "the Looney". :)
I don't know about you, but I'd rather have a government that mints Loonies than a government that's filled with loonies. :)
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Post by Durandal »

muse wrote:I don't know about you, but I'd rather have a government that mints Loonies than a government that's filled with loonies.
Darth Wong wrote:You're the one whose currency tells you to trust God.
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Post by Uraniun235 »

Durandal wrote:Image
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Post by tim31 »

Strewth, imagine getting a pair of them and trying to play two-up. You'd need a see-saw.

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Re: Canada mints a 100-kilo coin

Post by General Trelane (Retired) »

Coriolis wrote:That thing makes me drool. :P
Me too! Imagine a solid chocolate version like they make for the Loonie but with, well, better chocolate. Mmmm!

AMX wrote:But I think the Austrian one was prettier.
Yeah, the queen is getting kind of old. . .
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Post by General Zod »

Admiral Valdemar wrote:I think the US needs to reprint that Marshall Plan one-trillion dollar bill again.
Bills just don't have quite the same grandeur as coins. Who cares about bills with absurd numbers on them? :P
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