Description
This 2008 special issue half dollar coin is struck in sterling silver with a translucent green enamel finish, and is highly sought after as Canada’s first ever triangular coin.
Many Canadians have fond memories of a uniformed milkman delivering fresh-bottled dairy to their childhood homes. From the late 19th century to the 1960's, dairy tokens were a fixture across the country, bought in advance by customers to pay for this once-common house call. Most dairies had their own unique tokens, often brightly coloured like this eye-catching triangular coin. While early Canadian currency tokens disappeared from circulation after the 1870's and were replaced by new Canadian coinage, local merchants often continued to issue variously-shaped trade tokens, exchangeable for goods and services, like bread, milk or even a shave. Though their use declined after World War II, some like public transit tokens are still a familiar feature of daily life.
The Design:
This Royal Canadian Mint sterling silver collector coin features a design showing a cow and old-fashioned milk bottle, and is in the style of some of the original dairy tokens used in Canada from the late 1800s to the 1960s. The coin has a limited mintage of 25,000, and weighs 20 grams (about six tenths of an ounce) of sterling silver.
