20 for 20 Series: 2012 Polar Bear

This is the 3rd coin in the Royal Canadian Mint's 20 for 20 series. Like the other coins in the series, this is 1/4 ounce of 99.99% pure silver, has a $20 face value and retailed for $20 when it was released. Also, like all coins in this series (except the first) it has a mintage of 250,000 coins.

I really like this coin as it feature a Polar Bear swimming. I am partial to animal themed coins and this one did not disappoint. I even liked how the sleeve/certificate of authenticity were designed. Overall, this is one of my favourite coins in the series.

List of Royal Canadian Mint 1/2 Gram Gold Coins

The Royal Canadian Mint has recently started producing its smallest gold coins - 0.5 gram coins. The coins are 99.99% pure gold and have a 25 cent face value.

Here is a list of those coins along with links showing the coins that I own. If I have missed any coins please let me know.

Collection (5/8):

1) 2010 Caribou

2) 2011 Cougar

3) 2013 Hummingbird

4) 2014 Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep 

5) 2014 Eastern Chipmunk

6) 2015 Grizzly Bear

7) 2015 Diwali: Festival of Lights

8) 2015 Rock Rabbit

1957 Egyptian 10 Piastres Silver Coin

Here is a coin I found while searching though a box of world coins. It is a 1957 Egyptian 10 Piastres coin. The coin is 7.00 grams and 72% silver (so around 0.16 ounces of silver). The image of the Sphinx was a dead give away that it was Egyptian, but everything else required research since the writing is in Arabic.

This coin got me thinking. Even though I have never been to Egypt and may never go, their coin still has value to me because of the silver. On the other hand, all of those other coins in the box are worthless because I will never visit the countries or the coins are no longer legal tender.

Free Silver: 1 Gram Buffalo Bar

I was able to help a friend from YouTube save some money buying coins so he sent me this in the mail as a thanks. It is a 1 gram pure silver buffalo bar from the CMC Mint. I did not have one of these before so I was very happy to receive it.

20 for 20 Series: 2012 Farewell to the Penny (1/4 Oz Pure Silver, $20 Face Value)

February 4th, 2013 the Royal Canadian Mint in Canada stopped distribution of the penny (1 cent coin). There have been several coins released in the past year to commemorate this, including this coin. This is the 5th coin in the 20 for 20 Series, is 1/4 ounce pure silver (99.99%) and has a $20 face value. 250,000 of these coins were minted.

The design of this coin is nice as it contains the recognizable image from the penny, two maple leaves, but puts a slight twist on it. The maple leaves can be seen causing ripples in water. This signifies the end of one season (the season of the penny) and the start of something know. Overall a nicely designed coin. It will be a little weird to no longer have the penny around but I think it will be for the best.

20 for 20 Series: 2012 The Queen's Diamond Jubilee (1/4 Oz Pure Silver, $20 Face Value)

This is the 4th coin in the Royal Canadian Mint's 20 for 20 series. The coins is 1/4 ounce of pure silver (99.99%) and has a $20 face value (and could originally be purchased for $20). The mintage for this coin is 250,000.

This coin celebrates Queen Elizabeth II and her Diamond Jubilee (60 years as the monarch). Although I am not terribly interested in the Queen, I do love this series so I bought the coin anyway. I am sure people who like the Royal family will love the coin but for me, personally, this is my least favourite coin in the series. I don't have anything against the Queen, she just doesn't capture my interest.

Useful tools: Examining coins with magnifiers and loupes

In this video I wanted to show some of the tools I find useful for coin/bullion collectors. This video features magnifiers and jewellers loupes. These are great for examining the finer details of your coins and are relatively cheap to buy. They are definitely something I always have around.