Royal Canadian Mint

Thank you to all for sharing questions and concerns about how we will be interacting on this forum...

1. With regards to how questions/comments will be fielded, the goal is to direct them to the right people here at the Mint as required. We also commit to being transparent about answering questions. So yes, everyone in the forum will see the results of member inquiries. Sharing insight and answers are our top priorities -- and hopefully these don't blur into advertising because that is not our intent. Customer feedback and experience are taken very seriously at the Mint which is why we encourage regular feedback and input via things like product reviews, online surveys at mint.ca, customer focus groups and so on. Forum feedback will be treated with equal seriousness.

2. With respect to Canadian Coin Clubs, you bring up another great point! I am not sure how much we participate with these clubs, but as you say, it makes a lot of sense -- especially in Ottawa and Winnipeg where we have our two manufacturing facilities (and staff). Since it sounds like Ottawa isn't seeing much of us (if anything), I can certainly look into that right away and hopefully influence a visit! We've also got some remote employees so they might be able to fulfill occasional visits to some of the other coin clubs (like Atlantic Canada as mentioned by chequer). Regarding why we're getting involved on this forum, the Mint understands that more and more people are spending time online. Since we know many of them are coin collectors talking about our coins, we want to be a part of the conversation. It's the same thinking we had when we got involved on Twitter and Facebook back in the spring of 2009.

3. As for types of collectors, we agree there are many kinds. So once again, you bring up an excellent point. Perhaps we should speak to the admin people here to create some more specific topic subsets under the Canadian coin topic category -- i.e. Modern, Classic, Commemorative. That is such a great idea!

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts! We've just arrived here at this forum so we're still "setting up". That said, we really appreciate everyone's patience and understanding.

PS - Yes, my skin is getting thicker by the minute ;)

I agree that the RCM posts should be placed in the NCLT section of Canadian coins, the rest in the advertising section. The only 2 places that fit by the rules of the forum.

Once again, thank you for sharing your thoughts. It sounds like our best plan moving forward would be around simply keeping an eye on this forum - i.e. watching for questions, misunderstandings etc and then being able to respond in a timely manner. Do you think this would be our best approach?

RCM - Do you have any staff in Western Canada?

Having a rep from the Mint on this forum is great , as I stated previously. I have a question about the Masters Club, why is it that the mint offers special treatment and discounts to those that can obviously afford more than others, and does very little for the average Joe ( the ones that could use a break) . Maybe discounts, special notices, free postage could be set up for coin club members, forum members,(make alist). Any thoughts .

Yes, I regularly attend the Ottawa Coin Club meetings. Attendance can vary from 20 to up to almost 50 people per month. I cannot speak for the entire club, but a presence by the RCM would be embraced if the focus was on the numismatics - that is, the technical side of making coins from the design elements, the artistry, the engraving, smelting, production of the hubs and dies, etc... Just like this forum, the coin club is comprised of members that collect anything from world polymer paper money to ancient Roman coins to world coins with animals on them - everyone has their own thing. Being in Ottawa, most members are already aware of the products of the RCM, so it would not necessarily be a place to advertise mint products.

Shame you could not have gone to last month's meeting - I was the speaker and my topic was "The Geology of Canadian Coins"...

FYI, this month's speaker will be talking about coin photography. Will we see you or a mint representative there Monday?

SPP-Ottawa, that is very good insight re the Ottawa Coin Club. And don't worry, we wouldn't be using this venue to try and sell coins. Believe it or not, we're not always trying to sell. We're very interested in hearing from our customers and collectors. We do alot of research before we ever produce a coin. And I mean alot! Would understanding the research that goes into whether or not a coin gets produced be interesting? Totally agree that the technical side of things would be a hot topic for the crowd at the coin club. Really hoping we can make it happen for you. I'm pushing for it!

Too bad we missed last month's session. I'm sure it was fantastic and enlightening and all that good stuff! I noticed that the topic is coin photography. And I will see if someone might be able to attend. Taking photos of coins is a real challenge. I know we are always looking at ways to really show the detail and definition of our coins on our website. Takes a real specialist to do it right. The glare of the silver and gold are just one challenge with regards to lighting. I wonder if any of our coin photographers might already be going? I will pass this info along...

Thanks so much!