1987 Loon Dollar (Aureate)

The 1987 Loon Dollar marked a major shift in Canadian currency, replacing the one-dollar bank note with an eleven-sided, gold-colored coin. It quickly became one of Canada's most recognizable coins and gave rise to the enduring nickname "Loonie," which Canadians now use informally for the dollar itself.

Collectors are drawn to the 1987 issue both as the first year of a still-ongoing series and for the famous story behind its unusual reverse design, which resulted from an unplanned change late in the coin's development.

By the mid-1980s, the Canadian government sought to phase out the one-dollar paper note in favor of a more durable and cost-effective coin, following a path other countries had also taken. The Royal Canadian Mint originally planned a reverse design featuring a voyageur canoe scene similar to earlier silver dollars, designed by Robert-Ralph Carmichael.

According to a famous mint anecdote, the master dies for the canoe design were lost in transit before production could begin, prompting the Mint to quickly substitute a backup design also created by Carmichael: a common loon swimming on water. The loon design proved highly popular and became a lasting symbol of Canadian currency, eventually lending its name to the coin itself.

The coin entered circulation in 1987 and has continued in production in various forms since, with the nickname "Loonie" becoming so widespread that it is now used generically to refer to the Canadian dollar in everyday speech.

The obverse features Queen Elizabeth II's portrait along with the standard Canadian coinage legends. The reverse depicts a single common loon swimming on rippled water, with "CANADA" and the date above.

The coin has a distinctive eleven-sided (hendecagon) shape rather than a plain circle, and is struck in aureate bronze-plated nickel, giving it a gold-like color despite containing no gold. Its shape and color make it instantly recognizable and easy to distinguish from other Canadian circulating coins by touch alone, even in the dark.

As a coin still in production and originally struck in large numbers for circulation, the 1987 first-year Loonie is common and generally trades for modest premiums over face value in circulated grades. Specially packaged proof or specimen versions from official Mint sets can carry higher values due to their superior condition and limited distribution compared to circulation strikes.

Collectors particularly interested in the design's origin story often seek out the first-year 1987 date specifically, even though it is not scarce, simply because it represents the beginning of this now-iconic series.