Beginning in 2011, the Royal Canadian Mint began producing a series of collectible silver coins that featured pop culture icons like Superman, Bugs Bunny, and the Starship Enterprise. These coins were stamped with a face value of $20 because the price of silver was soaring that year. They could be purchased for the same price, tax free.
The series, which became known as the $20-for-$20 series, was intended to introduce more people to the hobby of coin collecting. It was a plan that worked for some time. Hundreds of thousands of flocked to buy these fun silver coins, leading to the mint striking over 4.2 million of them.
However, the price of silver fell considerably in the years since these novelty coins were introduced. Consumers discovered that the coins are unlikely to appreciate in value anytime soon because of how many were minted, so Canadians have been returning the coins to the mint to seek protection from the lower silver prices. The mint must pay back the $20 per coin because the of the stamped face value.
The mint’s 2016 annual report showed sharply reduced profits due to the massive returns of the devalued silver coins. In fact, the losses cut the year’s profits from a target of $41.3 million down to $24.5 million. The mint still managed to turn a profit for 2016 due to its successful gold bullion sales and foreign orders for manufacturing circulation coins for other countries.
The mint decided to discontinue the novelty silver coins due to the massive hit on their balance sheet. However, there’s no expiration on the redemption and return policies of the coins.
Other collector and novelty bullion coins are produced by the Royal Canadian Mint, but they maintain a stamped face value far below the actual value of the coins. For example, the silver coin commemorating the 150th birthday of Canada carries a face value of $1, and yet it sells for $60 due to the silver content and quality minting techniques.
The Canada 150 series has helped the mint garner an $11.1 million profit in the first quarter of 2017 alone. Additionally, the Maple Leaf series remains popular among international investors and collectors. Check out the 2017 Canadian Silver Maple, along with its gold counterpart.
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