Coin collectors get first chance to scoop up coins with new royal effigy Tuesday

The Royal Canadian Mint held a coin swap at its Ottawa boutique Tuesday, where collectors got some of the first circulation coins featuring King Charles III.

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
• Sign up now for our nightly CTV News Ottawa newsletter

"This is a unique opportunity to collect one of each circulating denomination featuring Canada's new royal effigy," the Mint said in a news release.

Collectors received a package containing a toonie, loonie, quarter, dime and nickel ($3.40) featuring a portrait of the King, dated 2023. 

"I have to be here, I've been doing this professionally and for fun for 13 years," said professional coin trader and collector Jacob Lipson. "This hasn’t happened since 1953 and I’m taking advantage of being able to do it. I’m going to put them [the coins] aside I'm going to show them to my family and friends and enjoy them."

The Mint unveiled the new royal effigy in November, marking the first new monarch on Canadian coins in 70 years, though the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II changed several times as she aged. The effigy of Charles III faces left, the opposite direction his mother faced on all coins with her effigy over the decades. This is part of a tradition to differentiate the new monarch's reign from the previous one.

A similar coin exchange at the Mint's Winnipeg facility, where circulation coins are produced, will take place Thursday.

Marie Lemay, President and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint, shows the first coin struck at an event celebrating the first strike of a Loonie with the effigy of King Charles on it at the Royal Canadian Mint in Winnipeg on Tuesday, November 14, 2023. (John Woods/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Alex Reeves of the Royal Canadian Mint told CTV News at Noon that the new design of Charles III was created in record time.

"A new coin design takes anywhere from 18 months to two years to create, normally," he said. "We learned of the government's decision to put the King on Canadian coins on the day of his coronation, May 6, and here we are seven months later and exchanging coins that we've finished and produced."

There is no legal stipulation to put the monarch on Canadian currency, Reeves says, but it is a matter of tradition.

"That's why we were kind of holding our breath until we finally learned what to do on May 6. We had a thoroughly thought-out plan in place to execute quickly. Like I said, we did it in a third of the normal time that it takes."

Charles III personally approved the portrait, Reeves said.  

There were brief lineups at times outside the Sussex Drive boutique as people waited to exchange their coins for a small envelope containing the set of new coins.

"People love grabbing a little piece of history and this is the first time in 70 years that we've seen a new monarch on our coins," said Reeves.

Taking part in this moment in history was the Mastromatteo family. Granny Annie, her son Marcus and her granddaughter Mia came to the boutique Tuesday.

"We decided to come out and commemorate this day because we feel it's very important. We’ve always loved the monarchy," Annie said. "We loved our Queen from the past, we miss her, and we're looking forward to enjoying the coins, so it's been an adventure for us this morning. It's a moment in history for us and Mia can go back to school and tell all her friends about this exciting day."

The Mint has created a set of uncirculated collectors' coins featuring Charles III's effigy that are expected to ship in February, but the coins available Tuesday were among the first circulation coins available.

Canadians might start seeing King Charles III in their change soon, but with 70 years' worth of coins in circulation, Queen Elizabeth's profile will remain a common sight in Canadians' pocket change for many years to come. All coins stamped with the effigy of the Queen remain legal tender.

--With files from CTV News Ottawa's Tyler Fleming.