Coins for the King

Photo Credit: The Canadian Press

On Sept. 8, 2022, Queen Elizabeth II passed away and His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales ascended to the Throne and became King Charles III. For 70 years, Canadian coins have featured the familiar face of Queen Elizabeth, but this era is coming to an end. The new coins will display Charles’ face in a new design.

A new effigy was designed by Steven Rosati, an award-winning artist from Montreal. The process for deciding on the new coins began with artists selected by the Royal Canadian Mint. 350 artists were invited to submit their portfolios. After the list was narrowed down to 15 people by an internal panel, the finalists submitted designs for the new coin. The King had to be facing to the right in order to follow the tradition of the new monarch facing the opposite direction from their predecessor.

“It's kind of like an ageless face I have put together,” Rosati told the CBC, explaining his vision for his King Charles rendition. “I didn't want to make him look too young. I didn't want to make him look too old. So I kind of pieced together a hybrid look of his face.”

The new coins are to begin circulating in December 2023, and according to the Mint, “more will follow as banks and businesses draw down their inventory of existing circulation coins.”

All current money will remain legal tender. The new coins will be gradually phased into the system in the coming years.