Six Beautiful Coins with Cameos
The Transportation Series of coins lasted but two years, 2000 and 2001, but is today a highly sought after series. The subject matter of the series itself is a source of interest. The coins depict modes of transportation with a historical point of view. There are two coins each that feature an automobile, if you are a little generous with the term automobile, two old steam engines, and a pair of sailing ships. One of each mode of transportation was minted for each year.
Images used were taken by Black Spaniel Gallery, and are our images.The Transportation Series of coins lasted but two years, 2000 and 2001, but is today a highly sought after series. The subject matter of the series itself is a source of interest. The coins depict modes of transportation with a historical point of view. There are two coins each that feature an automobile, if you are a little generous with the term automobile, two old steam engines, and a pair of sailing ships. One of each mode of transportation was minted for each year.
Highly Collectible Coins With Excellent Specifications
Short series are easy to complete, so collectors are inclined to acquire them. This series has but six coins, making it a very short series.
Another factor in collectability is the quality. The royal Canadian Mint is perhaps the world leader in innovation as well as in quality. These coins are also made to the high proof standards. In addition, these are Sterling silver coins, which means they contain 0.9250 purity of silver, and about 0.925 of a Troy ounce ASW (actual silver weight).
My coin book, North American Coins and Prices, does not show a mintage for the 2000 issues, but does show a mintage of only 15,000 each for the 2001 issues. One thing that might have caused this is the Royal Canadian Mint occasionally prints a maximum mintage on a coin’s Certificate of Authenticity, but there is no guarantee that number will be demanded by the public, hence ever minted. Let it suffice to say the entire set is limited in availability.
These coins were issued in beautiful mint cases, one of which is shown below.
These coins have a denomination of $20, and were never intended to circulate.
These coins each bear a nice cameo showing the same subject from a different perspective. The book I am using identifies the cameos for the 2000 coins as multicolored, and those for the 2001 coins as holograms. The Royal Canadian Mint has a rich history of hologram inclusions on coins, and it is possible the 2000 issues just used a different wording. I have seen two of the 2001 coins, but have not come across any 2000 coins from this series.
The 2000 Coin Subjects
Some Canadian Firsts in Transportation
The First Canadian Locomotive shows a steam engine with steam coming from its smoke stack traveling right to left.
The First Canadian Self-Propelled Car has large wheels and a smoke stack on the rear.
The Bluenose Sailboat is the ship under sail.
The 2001 Issues
Famous Carriers
A Steam Locomotive, which is specifically the Scotia.
The Marco Polo coin shows the ship under full sail.
The Russell Touring Car is a beautiful car depicted from the side.
Why No Aircraft?
From 1990 through 1999 the royal Canadian Mint had minted twenty Sterling silver coins,with a $20 denomination, and a gld colored cameo of one or more aviators, called the Aviation Series, so the aircraft had already been minted.
