For 87 years, Canadian notes have featured the face of Queen Elizabeth II, starting when she was a child princess. At least one of those early notes is in the hands of a Victoria-based collector.
John Newman, owner of Britannia Coins & Estates, holds the first-ever Canadian $20 bill featuring the young face of Princess Elizabeth, who would become queen 17 years later.
“It was the first time she appeared anywhere in the world on currency,” said Newman, whose Fort Street business is brimming with gold and silver, fine china, jewelry and currency, much of which features the monarch’s face from the last eight decades.
After the Queen’s death last week, Newman expects to see collectors interested in coins or stamps that commemorate the Queen’s platinum year — the final year before her death.
“We really didn’t know how long her reign would last … I think they’ll be looking to collect the sets that commemorate her last year of reign,” he said. “I think the Royal Mint was producing a series of platinum coins we haven’t seen here yet.
“Those are going to be valuable, for sure.”
When it is redesigned, the new $20 note will feature the reigning monarch — King Charles III. But it won’t be a quick change, said Victoria-based collectibles dealer Paul Freeman, owner of Romanoff & Co.
“There’s a lot of $20 bills in circulation already — they won’t pull those out, they have to let them run their course,” he said. “Her image will be on that note for a long time.”
As for what comes next for the “heads” side of Canadian coins, that’s up to the federal government to determine. Freeman said he’s already getting calls about coins from the Queen’s final year.
He noted that in the past, people tended to keep the first year of a new coin as a memento, making it less likely to reach a high value.
“But the following year tends to be worth more than the first year, because the mintage, historically, has fallen,” he said.
Canadian coin collecting isn’t necessarily about a love for the monarchy, said Newman. It’s about rarity and composition. An error in production can see a coin’s value skyrocket.
“This hobby is about detail,” he said. “It’s about scarcity and type and design and so on. They’re very detail-oriented, the numismatists of this world — the coin collectors.”
ngrossman@timescolonist.com
