What Versions Of Coins Are Made In Canada?

There are many varieties based on "finish" - the way in which the coin dies are polished and prepared before production. "Proof" coins have mirrored, reflective backgrounds, while the design is frosted - I think these are sometimes called "FDCs" in Europe. "Specimen" coins have mirrored, reflective design details, while the backgrounds are made of many small parallel lines. And "Brilliant Uncirculated" coins are made for coin sets and are slightly more mirrored than normal circulating coins.

All of these varieties can only be found in coin sets and are usually quite expensive. (A specimen set costs about $60, so a toonie from one of those sets might be sold for $20.) There are also sets where proof coins are struck in silver (sometimes with gold plating as well). Some earlier proofs were sold by themselves, without being inside sets. There are a lot of different non-circulating varieties and I don't know all of them - hopefully someone here will be able to provide a list.

Pretty much as @gorebug says above. There are also the BU versions you refer to that are available in the pliofilm sets from 1998-2010. 2010 was the last year BU coins were struck and starting in 2011 all sets now contain Circulation coins. The pliofilm set from 1997 was Specimen and prior to 1997 toonies were not included in the sets. Other sets such as the O Canada, Birthday, Holiday etc were BU until 2005 and were changed to Circulation in 2006.

The proof toonies were in nickel & bronze, silver w/ gold plate, and white & yellow gold in 1996. Also the 1999 Nunavut proof toonies and the 2000 Path of Knowledge (family of polar bears) proof toonies. There is a white & yellow gold version for the 2006 10th anniversary as well. The regular proof toonies from 1997-2011 are .925 silver w/ gold plate. In 2012 they released 2 different proof sets; one with the toonie in nickel & brass and the other .9999 silver w/ gold plate. 2013 is just .9999 silver w/ gold plate. 2014 went back to two different sets; one with nickel plated steel and the other .9999 silver w/ gold plate.

The Charlton catalogue Vol 1 will give you all the different Circulation coins and most (if not all) the BU as well as some of the Specimen & Proof in the toonie section. Charlton Vol 2 will give you all the extra commemorative ones in the toonie section and also has a set section so you know which sets are BU vs Circulation vs Specimen etc.

Hi SamieStian!

Here's a helpful link with an approximate guide to prices of Toonies:

http://www.coinsandcanada.com/coins...rs-1996-2015

If you decide to collect uncirculated business toonies, then you'd be looking at MS (Mint State) grades in the charts on the above website.

I'm not sure if you're planning on buying on ebay, but a couple of things you might want to consider -
- you'll see a lot of toonies referred to as BU but that is not an abbreviation for business uncirculated, instead BU refers to Brilliant Uncirculated - often referred to as PL (Proof-Like) as well and originates from a mint uncirculated set. Beginning in 2011 there is no difference between BU/PL and MS.
- Pre 2011, Business Uncirculated toonies most often come from mint rolls and are usually advertised as such.
- you may already have noticed that for some years, more than one type of Loonie was produced
- most MS toonies aren't professionally graded because the cost of doing so is greater than the value.

And you also may be interested in reading this past thread on the topic, if you haven't already done so.
https://goccf.com/t/80018

Good luck, have fun and let us know how your collection is coming along from time to time!