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New Acquisitions

By: Paul S. Berry


April 18, 2018

The 1936 Dot Set

If you watch The Crown, a Netflix series about the life of Queen Elizabeth II, you will remember that her uncle, King Edward VIII, fell in love with American divorcée Wallis Simpson and, in December 1936, abdicated rather than give her up. Edward’s brother—and Elizabeth’s father—Albert subsequently became King George VI.

The abdication of Edward VIII had implications for the Royal family and the succession, but did you know that it also affected Canada? It wasn’t merely a divisive topic over the dinner table, pitting Edward’s supporters against those who thought it “just wasn’t proper.” It had a big effect on our money.

engraving of Prince Edward

Prince Edward, first son of King George V and Queen Mary, from Canada’s 1935 $5 bill.

engraving of King George VI

Prince Albert, second son of King George V and Queen Mary, from Canada’s 1935 $50 bill.

$1 bill with Edward VIII

Bank notes were already in advanced stages of design before King Edward VIII abdicated. This photograph of a model for the new notes was made December 1, after official approval of the portrait was received in mid-November.

Early in 1937, Canada experienced a shortage of 1-, 10- and 25-cent coins. Normally, the Mint would have filled the void using the new dies for 1937, but their production had been delayed owing to Edward VIII’s abdication. To meet the emergency, the Mint struck coins using dies from 1936. A small impression was added to the reverse dies, creating a raised dot on coins struck from those tools that distinguished them from the 1936 coins.

Canadian 1936 dot penny

The last year of this design was to be1936. Introduced in 1920, it was replaced in 1937 by the familiar maple leaf cent, whose production ceased in 2012.

penny close up

The dot on the 1-cent piece appears to be smaller than that on the 10- and 25-cent coins.


The 1936 dot coinage has drawn much attention from domestic and foreign collectors of Canadian coins since knowledge of its existence was made public about 1938–39. As coin collecting became a popular hobby in postwar Canada, clubs were formed across the country and collectors eagerly searched their change, looking to assemble complete date sets of Canadian coins. The dot coinage was recognized as rare, and the 1-cent coin in particular became something of a Holy Grail for collectors—always sought but never found. Coin dealers placed ads offering to purchase the coins. Even the producers of the new Whitman storage folders, with their convenient die-cut holes into which young and old alike could press their new-found treasures, left spaces for these rare pieces in their products.

In April 2016, Robert Lafortune graciously donated a 1936 coin set, including the three dot pieces, to the National Currency Collection. The set had been in the possession of his family since the early 1940s when his father, Maurice Lafortune, purchased the set from the Mint, his employer.

red leather case

Rather than making new cases, the Mint repurposed holders from 1908 by adding a new label to the outside.

open coin case

The insert was also changed by adding room for the silver dollar, which was not in use in 1908.


To say the set is rare is an understatement. This is the only intact set known to exist. Two other sets were sold to prominent American collector and businessman John J. Pittman in 1951 and 1954. One set was stolen from his home in April 1964 and subsequently dispersed; the second set was sold piecemeal in 1997 when Pittman’s collection was auctioned. The 1-cent and 10-cent dot pieces are also two of Canada’s rarest coins. Despite Mint Master Walter Clifton Ronson’s 1952 confirmation that 678,823 1-cent and 191,237 10-cent pieces had been placed into circulation, only three 1-cent pieces and five 10-cent pieces are known to exist beyond those in the present set. This discrepancy is a mystery that has never been adequately explained.

Canadian 1936 dot dime

All coins in the set except for the 5-cent piece are specimens, coins of the highest quality specially struck for presentation purposes.

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Content type(s): Blog posts

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March 29, 2019

TTC Tokens and the Proposed 1978 Cent

By: David Bergeron


In 1977, the Royal Canadian Mint wanted to reduce the size of the penny in response to the rising price of copper. Little did the Mint know that the Toronto Transit Commission’s reaction would force the cancellation of the program.
Content type(s): Blog posts
March 8, 2019

The Vertical Note That Almost Was

By: Graham Iddon


The printing firms’ design teams went to work and came back with a surprising result: vertical notes.
Content type(s): Blog posts
February 19, 2019

The Coming of the Toonie

By: David Bergeron, Graham Iddon


The life expectancy of a two-dollar paper note was about a year. But coins can last for more than 10 years.
Content type(s): Blog posts
February 8, 2019

The Canadian Roots of the “Greenback”

By: Graham Iddon


Successfully counterfeiting a bank note in the mid-19th century required an engraver with reasonably high talent and very low ethics.
Content type(s): Blog posts
January 30, 2019

What’s Up Next for 2019?

By: Graham Iddon


Instead of bragging about our visitor statistics and the popularity our programming (both great!), we’ll talk about what’s coming up for early 2019.
Content type(s): Blog posts
January 24, 2019

Boer War Siege Money

By: Graham Iddon


As in any siege, Mafeking quickly began to run short of most things, not the least of which was cash.
Content type(s): Blog posts
January 3, 2019

Unpacking the Collection 11

By: David Bergeron


The size of the 1-cent coin was reduced to save on the cost of copper. At the same time, there were proposals to mint Canadian coins out of cheap and abundant nickel.
Content type(s): Blog posts
December 28, 2018

A Good Deal

By: David Bergeron


In Canada playing cards were used as form of emergency money at a time when the colony constantly suffered from a shortage gold and silver coins.
Content type(s): Blog posts
December 14, 2018

Unpacking the Collection 10

By: David Bergeron


During the first international assembly of the Ligo in 1946, a decision was made to introduce a common world currency with an internationally stable value.
Content type(s): Blog posts
December 11, 2018

Unpacking the Collection 9

By: Raewyn Passmore


Wars have been fought to control its trade and gifts of it have been made to ensure peace. It has even been used as currency.
Content type(s): Blog posts
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