Commems Collection Canadian: 2005 Canada's National Flag Silver Dollar

For a brief introduction into the development of Canada's National Flag, and its launch in 1965, I suggest checking out:

- 2005 Canada's Flag Coin And CD-ROM Set

(I won't be repeating much of the history outlined in the linked post here.)


In 2005, for the 40th Anniversary of the adoption of Canada's National Flag, the Royal Canadian Mint issued a commemorative Silver Dollar (SD) in a number of varieties - plus a special CD-ROM package (described in the post linked above). The SD versions included: Proof, Brilliant Uncirculated, Red Enamel and Selective Gold-Plated (SGP) options; the SGP SD was only available in the 2005 Proof Set.

The Mint described the Red Enamel SD as being among its "most successful coins issued in 2005." It definitely proved to be popular with collectors at the time of release - it was a first within the SD series - and enjoyed notable appreciation in the secondary market - I recall retail prices in the $400+ (CAD) range. Today, the coin can often be found online for $100 (CAD) or less. As none of the other varieties of the SD garnered the same level of collector excitement, it seems safe to say that it was the novelty of the red enamel (the "something new" factor) that drove initial market prices.

The SD varieties feature common obverse and reverse designs. The obverse of each presents the Susanna Blunt portrait of Queen Elizabeth II (engraved by Susan Taylor). On the reverse, a waving Canadian flag dominates the center of the design, with the Peace/Clock Tower of the Parliament Building in the field to the lower right and a fireworks burst above. The design was created and engraved by William Woodruff.

The standard Proof coin depicts the Canadian Flag with its red portions frosted. The enameled version adds red colour to these areas, with gold used to highlight the same areas on the selectively gold-plated SD. Each of the SDs is 36.07 millimeters in diameter with a weight of 25.175 grams. They were struck on 0.9999 fine silver planchets and have reeded/serrated edges.

Sales of the Proof SD totaled 95,431; the BU version sold 50.498 examples. The Red Enamel version had net sales of 4,898 coins (out of maximum of 5,000). Driven by a combination of SD "completist" collectors and Proof Set collectors, the SGP version sold 63,759 units (including Canadian Numismatic Association (CNA) Convention Sets).

Included within the BU sales total are the SDs embedded within the Canada's Flag Coin And CD-ROM Set. The Mint did not provide a breakdown for the number of CD-ROM sets sold, however. At the time of issue, the Mint stated that production of the set would be "on demand" vs. to a pre-determined limit. Based on market availability, I would suggest a sales total in the 4,000 to 6,000 range.

Issue prices for the SD versions were:

- Proof: $34.95 (CAD)
- BU: $24.95 (CAD)
- Red Enamel: $99.95 (CAD)
>>>>> the most expensive issue price for a single silver dollar up to that time
- SGP Proof Set $84.95 (CAD)
- CD-ROM Set: $34.95 (CAD)

2005 Canada National Flag 40th Anniversary SD - BU from CD-ROM Set


2005 Canada National Flag 40th Anniversary SD - Red Enamel



For more of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including other Canadian coin stories, see: Commems Collection.