Discovering a Mythical Coin: George V Canadian Gold
While America struck its first gold coin, the Gold Eagle, in 1795, Canada only began minting gold coins in 1912. The first series of Canadian gold coins is known as the George V series and only lasted for three years, until 1914, when World War I broke out. In order to finance the war effort, the Canadian government recovered the vast majority of these coins and kept them hoarded for nearly 100 years.
King George V was depicted on the obverse of the gold coin for each of the three years it was struck. Reigning from 1910 to 1936, King George V was the grandson of Queen Victoria. Under his rule, the Parliament Act of 1911 established the rule of the elected House of Commons and removed power from the House of Lords. With this act, he became known for siding with the people of England over the nobility and giving more power to citizens than ever before.
Once again, demonstrating his solidarity with the British people, King George V set a new precedent by giving the first Royal Christmas radio speech. Due to its popularity with the British people, this speech became a yearly event. Initially, he was against the new technology, but decided to continue giving the speech because of the public’s overwhelming positive reception.
Two years after King George V ascended, the Canadian government decided to create a series of gold coins featuring his image. The Royal Canadian Mint in Ottawa first struck the $5 and $10 Gold George V coins in 1912. Large numbers of these gold coins were collected and kept in the Royal Canadian Mint. While the Canadian government planned to produce $2.50 and $20 denominations, they never came to fruition due to World War I.
The King George V Gold coin featured a unique design that very few Canadian citizens were able to see, as it was taken out of circulation to prevent gold from going overseas during WWI. As the first official Canadian gold coin, these examples are iconic pieces of history. However, with almost every example being hoarded by the Royal Canadian Mint for a century, the George V gold coins have reached legendary status.
It wasn’t until 2012 that the Canadian government finally decided to release some of these coins to the public. Originally, this hoard, known as the Bank of Canada Hoard, contained about 245,000 coins, consisting of $5 and $10 gold coins that were dated from 1912 to 1914. It was decided, however, that only the top of the line, highest quality coins of this hoard would be released to the public. In the end, the Royal Canadian Mint concluded that only about 30,000 of these coins met the high standard of quality they were setting. The remaining 87% or so of this hoard was then melted down and lost forever. As a result, the coins of this hoard are incredibly rare.
The obverse of the coin depicts a bust of King George the Fifth brandished by a crown, accompanied by the words “DEI GRA” for Dei Gratia which translates from Latin into “king by the grace of God” as well as “REX ET IND. IMP.” for Rex Et Indiae Imperator which translates from Latin into “King and Emperor of India.”
Meanwhile, the reverse bears Canada’s coat of arms as it appeared on May 26, 1868 under the rule of Queen Victoria. Behind the Coat of arms are two maple branches. The shield of the coat of arms is split into 4 parts, each representing one of the 4 provinces of Canada. Ontario is depicted with 3 maple leaves below the Saint-George cross, Quebec is depicted with 2 lilies, a lion, and 3 maple leaves, New-Brunswick is depicted with a ship known as a galleon and a lion, Nova Scotia is depicted with 3 thistles and a salmon. The reverse also has an inscription of “CANADA,” “1914,” and “TEN DOLLARS.”
Bearing the most beautiful reverse produced by the Royal Canadian Mint and coming from the once-in-a-lifetime discovery of the Bank of Canada Hoard, this stunning coin is truly remarkable. Rare Collectibles TV is honored to include several gem examples of the $10 George V Gold Canadian Coin for numismatists to add to their collection.
