The Royal Canadian Mint is Canada’s Crown Corporation and is responsible for producing coinage, both for domestic usage within Canada as well as for other countries. The mint works with metals such as platinum, gold, silver and palladium, and has become one of the most respected institutions in the world. Its most famous coin is the Maple Leaf.

History and Structure Of The Royal Canadian Mint

The RCF was founded in 1908, initially part of the Royal Mint but which ultimately gained its autonomy once Canada became independent. Over the next few years it started refining gold through the process of electrolysis but due to the time needed for this method the RCF developed a more efficient chlorination technique. This allowed the mint to refine gold at a higher rate, and today the RCF uses a hybrid of both.

The Royal Canadian Mint functions under the authorization of the Royal Canadian Mint Act. Its original and primary facility is in Ottawa, but it also has a building in Winnipeg. The Winnipeg facility is primarily responsible for producing currencies for other countries, such as Thailand, Yemen, Uganda, Barbados and Colombia. The RCF differs from other Canadian governmental departments in that it has far more independence in terms of management.

It is similar to private sector enterprises in that it has a CEO and board of directors. The CEO is also referred to as the Master of the Mint and the RCF operates under the Canadian Department of Finance. The work that this mint performs can be broken down into four categories, which are Numismatics, Refinery and Bullion, Foreign Business and Canadian Circulation.

Breakthroughs And Characteristics

The RCF has established itself as one of the world’s most preeminent mints. This is due not only to the high purity silver, platinum, gold and palladium products it produces, but for the contributions it has made to the industry over the years. One such innovation is multi-ply plating, which utilizes steel cores which are plated electromagnetically with a layer of nickel and copper. It reduces production costs due to its lower requirement of both. It also allows for the production of coins with signatures that are electromagnetic, which prevents counterfeiting.

The RCF also made key contributions to the development of colorized coins. In fact, in 2004 it became the world’s first mint to issue a coin for circulation which was colorized. This was made possible by using a high precision inkjet mechanism that is computer controlled and extremely fast to position the color on the coins. About 30 million colored coins were put into circulation thanks to this method. Finally, the RCF has also been heavily involved in the development of physical vapor deposition, a technique which is designed to increase the longevity of the die beyond what is possible with traditional dies that are chrome coated.