So I wound up in downtown Ottawa on Canada Day. First, I went to the Currency Museum and got to talk to the director, then I heard that the Mint would let visitors strike a medallion on a hand-cranked press. Since I had previously heard "Mint visitors" in conjunction with things like "1921 half" or "1911 specimen set", I had to go. The lineup was long (half an hour?) and the press was clearly made for public use - a crank lifted one die via gravity, which would then drop and strike the coin. I guess this is the classic way to do it - but gravity doesn't apply that much pressure, so the medallion is incuse. It also came with a free fuzzy pouch:

The medallion is struck on a copper-coloured planchet a little over nickel size. The employees on duty had been treating the bags of planchets incautiously, and they are unrimmed, so they were covered in bag marks before striking. Also, the die bounced a little bit, and each planchet had to be loaded by hand, so off-center strikes and doubling seemed to be prevalent. Mine mostly escaped these defects... and the pictures (slightly tilted for effect)...


Apparently, this has been an annual event for a few years, but I can't find any information about even a 2012 Canada Day medallion. This would probably be a tough set to complete...