I thought I'd start a new thread comparing the weights of the 2007 "Chinese" $8 coin with the 2016 "Yin Yang" $8 coin vs. burying it in the thread about June releases.
To bring everyone up to speed, the new 2016 "Yin Yang" coin is the
RCM's second coin to have a square hole cut out of its center - the first was the "Chinese" coin released in 2007. Based on their diameter, it appears that both coins were struck on what started out as
RCM's standard SD planchet of the time. The weight of the new coin is listed as being less than the current SD planchet while the 2007 coin had a published weight that was the same as the SD planchet. This discrepancy was brought to the fore in recent discussions and led CC-Ottawa to ask if anyone had a theory as to why this was the case. I offered that it was most likely a typo by the Mint back in 2007.
So, I got out my 2007 "Chinese" coin to weigh it and compare what I found against the weight published online for the coin. What I found was quite interesting.
The
RCM web site lists the coin as being 36.07 mm in diameter and having a weight of 25.18 grams. These specs are a perfect match to the two commemorative silver dollars issued in 2007 - the "Celebrating Thayendanegea" and "Celebration of the Arts" coins.
When I checked the specifications included on the COA that came with my coin, the diameter listed matched what was published on the
RCM web site but the weight did not. The COA indicated that the weight was 23.99 grams - 1.19 grams (4.7%) lighter than the figure on the
RCM web site. The lighter weight makes sense, of course, considering that a square hole was punched/cut out of the planchet.
The plot thickened, however, when I weighed my coin. I expected 23.99 grams (or thereabouts) but my digital scale read 23.04 grams. So, my coin was less than what the COA indicated by 0.95 grams and less than a standard 2007 SD planchet by 2.14 grams (8.5% less)!
(Note: As a calibration test for my scale, I also weighed two different silver bullion pieces known to be one troy ounce - the scale showed the expected weight for both.)The listed weight of the 2016 "Chinese Yin Yang" coin is 20.86 grams. This seems like too big of a drop from the standard weight of the SD (25.18 grams) and/or the weight of my 2007 coin (23.04 grams) until you realize that the
RCM lowered the weight of its SDs from 25.18 grams to 23.18 grams back in 2012. So, subtracting 20.86 from 23.18 we get 2.32 grams. This is a fairly close match to my coin's weight difference of 2.14 grams (certainly much closer than the 1.19 gram difference listed in the 2007 COA).
So, my current thinking is that not only is the
RCM web site incorrect in its weight specification for the 2007 "Chinese" coin, but so is the
RCM's COA for the coin. If the dimensions of the hole of the new coin match the hole of the 2007 coin, it will be fairly conclusive evidence that the
RCM made mistakes in both media back in 2007.
PS I just noticed that the "Yin Yang" coin has moved to "Awaiting Stock" on the Mint's web site. I know that it doesn't mean much in terms of ultimate market availability for the coin, but with a limit of two per household it does indicate at least some initial interest in the piece.
Edited to correct spelling error.
Posted 06/05/2016 2:01 pm
