148-765: The Royal Canadian Mint ( French : Monnaie royale canadienne ) is the mint of Canada and a Crown corporation , operating under the Royal Canadian Mint Act . The shares of the mint are held in trust for the Crown in right of Canada . The mint produces all of Canada's circulation coins , and manufactures circulation coins on behalf of other nations. The mint also designs and manufactures precious and base metal collector coins; gold , silver , palladium , and platinum bullion coins; medals , as well as medallions and tokens . It further offers gold and silver refinery and assay services. The mint serves
296-608: A "money-losing coin" several times since at least 1984. Although several attempts were made to abolish the penny, these were met with resistance as they were considered a necessity to pay provincial sales taxes. Attitudes against the penny began to grow more in 2007 as the year marked the coin's centennial by the Ottawa Mint (now the RCM ). During this time, a survey was conducted by the Desjardins Group which mentioned that
444-602: A Crown corporation via the Royal Canadian Mint Act for the purpose of minting coins and associated activities. As a Crown corporation, the mint was no longer a branch of the Department of Finance but operated autonomously with its own board of directors and increased decision-making powers. Then, in February 1970, Supply and Services Minister James Richardson proposed building the mint's new facility in Winnipeg . This
592-744: A French official to teachers in the department of Finistère , in western Brittany, included the following: "And remember, Gents: you were given your position in order to kill the Breton language". The prefect of Basses-Pyrénées in the French Basque Country wrote in 1846: "Our schools in the Basque Country are particularly meant to replace the Basque language with French..." Students were taught that their ancestral languages were inferior and they should be ashamed of them; this process
740-431: A comprehensive academic study entitled "The World's 10 most influential languages". In the article, Weber ranked French as, after English, the second-most influential language of the world, ahead of Spanish. His criteria were the numbers of native speakers, the number of secondary speakers (especially high for French among fellow world languages), the number of countries using the language and their respective populations,
888-680: A creature native to Canada: a rock dove on the 1¢ coin, a rabbit on the 5¢ coin, a mackerel on the 10¢ coin, a lynx on the 25¢ coin, a howling wolf on the 50¢ coin, and a Canada goose on the dollar. A commemorative gold $ 20 coin was also struck for collectors' sets, with a coat of arms on the reverse. It is worth noting the then Ottawa branch of the British Royal Mint wanted to commemorate Canada's 60th anniversary in 1927 with variant coin designs. French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] )
1036-466: A diameter of 1 inch (25.4 mm) and weighed 1 ⁄ 100 pound (4.54 g) each. Coinage for pennies was commenced so late in the year that the bulk of the large order for cents had to be completed in 1859. The 10,000,000 coins ordered easily exceeded the demand and wants of the public that year as the population in the Province of Canada at the time was not even 2,000,000 people. This had
1184-500: A dual date of "1952–2002", for her Golden Jubilee . Penny mintages for "2002" also include those marked with and without a "P" below Elizabeth II's bust. This letter identifies those made of copper-plated steel, as opposed to those with copper-plated zinc. Two effigies of the Queen were used in the following year which include Hunt's "old effigy", and a fourth and final effigy made by portrait artist Susanna Blunt . This final depiction of
1332-404: A facility record. 50 million units of the 20¢ Australian coin featuring a platypus were minted in 1981. Other coins have included centavos for Cuba , kroner for Norway, fils for Yemen , pesos for Colombia , kroner for Iceland , rupiah for Indonesia , baht for Thailand , and a thousand-dollar coin for Hong Kong . Other client nations include Barbados and Uganda . In 2005, the mint
1480-555: A foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050. French is the fastest growing language on the continent (in terms of either official or foreign languages). French is increasingly being spoken as a native language in Francophone Africa, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and
1628-465: A fraction" of pennies dated 1923 are described as being in "collectable condition". When including coin varieties, valuable examples include the rare 1936 "dot" cent of which only three minted specimens are known. These coins were produced with the dot to show they were made in 1937 while the mint was waiting for new dies due to a delay caused by the abdication of King Edward VIII and the need to create new dies for his successor, George VI . This rarity
SECTION 10
#17327733925751776-1214: A great number of military decorations for the Department of National Defence including: the Sacrifice Medal , the Canadian Forces' Decoration and Clasp, the General Campaign Star , the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Bars, the General Service Medal , the Special Service Medal , the Operational Service Medal , the Memorial Cross and the Canadian Victoria Cross . It also produces military decorations for Veterans Affairs Canada , as well as long-service medals for
1924-705: A period of prosperity and prominence among European nations. Richelieu established the Académie française to protect the French language. By the early 1800s, Parisian French had become the primary language of the aristocracy in France. Near the beginning of the 19th century, the French government began to pursue policies with the end goal of eradicating the many minorities and regional languages ( patois ) spoken in France. This began in 1794 with Henri Grégoire 's "Report on
2072-494: A relic of the old nominal case system of Latin longer than most other Romance languages (with the notable exception of Romanian which still currently maintains a case distinction), differentiating between an oblique case and a nominative case. The phonology was characterized by heavy syllabic stress, which led to the emergence of various complicated diphthongs such as -eau which would later be leveled to monophthongs. The earliest evidence of what became Old French can be seen in
2220-453: A right-facing bust of the King with the words " Edwardus VII Dei gratia Rex Imperator " and "Canada". This portrait was used until Edward's death in 1910, and controversy arose the following year with a new design for George V . King George V's portrait was designed by Australian sculptor and medalist Bertram Mackennal with the words " Georgius V Rex et Ind: Imp: "; however, this
2368-652: A ripple effect, as the "ample supply" of newly issued coins were not withdrawn from circulation. The government of Canada had to intervene over the next 10 years by releasing them into circulation at a 20 percent discount. Fresh production of new cents (with their weight increased to 1 ⁄ 5 ounce or 5.67 grams) was not required until 1876. These pennies all have an "H" mintmark on them as they were made in Birmingham , England, by Ralph Heaton & Sons . Heaton continued to mint pennies for Canada in 1881 and 1882 while providing new coin presses and other machinery to
2516-477: A second effigy of herself on Canadian coinage which was made by British artist and sculptor Arnold Machin . This second bust features the Queen facing right while wearing a tiara surrounded by Latin text where " Dei Gratia " is abbreviated again to read "D.G.". When these new pennies debuted in 1965, the denticles on both sides of the coin were replaced by beads, but these were affected by striking difficulties. Canada celebrated its centennial in 1967; this
2664-587: A second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as a working language along with English and German ; in some institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the Court of Justice of the European Union ). French is also the 16th most natively spoken language in the world, the sixth most spoken language by total number of speakers , and
2812-526: A second language. However it has also become a native language in a number of urban areas, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and the Democratic Republic of the Congo . In some North African countries, though not having official status, it is also a first language among some upper classes of the population alongside indigenous languages, but only
2960-941: A second one among the general population. In 2015, approximately 40% of the Francophone population (including L2 and partial speakers) lived in Europe, 36% in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania. French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union . Of Europeans who speak other languages natively, approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as
3108-431: A study on the future of the one-cent coin. The committee's study concluded towards the end of the year, and on December 14, 2010 they recommended the penny be removed from circulation. Their argument concluded that a century of inflation had eroded the value and usefulness of the one-cent piece. Rather than being spent, they estimated that the average Canadian had as many as 600 pennies hoarded away. The Royal Canadian Mint
SECTION 20
#17327733925753256-655: A twenty-dollar gold coin of proof quality. Also in 1971, the RCM made coins for the Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Iran, and the Isle of Man. An order for 100 million general circulation five-centime and ten-centimo coins for Venezuela was received as well. By 1973, orders totalled 65 million coins and 70 million blanks. By 1974, the Ottawa facility produced a total of 1.2 billion coins (foreign and domestic),
3404-547: A variant of Canadian French , is spoken in parts of New England . Missouri French was historically spoken in Missouri and Illinois (formerly known as Upper Louisiana ), but is nearly extinct today. French also survived in isolated pockets along the Gulf Coast of what was previously French Lower Louisiana , such as Mon Louis Island , Alabama and DeLisle, Mississippi (the latter only being discovered by linguists in
3552-501: A variety of currencies. On January 12, 2016, MintChip was sold to Toronto-based nanoPay. In 2021, reports of racism and sexual harassment at the mint surfaced. A subsequent external report described the workplace culture as "toxic". The Ottawa branch of the Royal Mint was officially opened on January 2, 1908, by Lord Grey and his wife, Lady Grey. When the facility first opened, it had 61 employees. The last surviving member of
3700-831: A wolf, while the second features a grizzly bear. The third design, depicting a cougar, was released on September 24, 2011, for public sales. The fourth in the series was a moose, the fifth coin was the pronghorn antelope, and the sixth and final coin was the wood bison. While the silver and gold maple leaves have proved enduringly popular among investors and bullion collectors, the mint has also produced limited numbers of platinum and palladium maple leaf coins. From 2005 to 2009, palladium maple leaf coins were offered in 1-troy-ounce (31 g) coins of .9995 fineness. Platinum maple leaves were struck in 1 oz, 1 ⁄ 2 oz, 1 ⁄ 4 oz, 1 ⁄ 10 oz, 1 ⁄ 15 oz, and 1 ⁄ 20 oz weights, between 1988 and 1999 and again in 2009. In addition,
3848-437: Is 95%, and in the French collectivity of Wallis and Futuna , it is 84%. In French Polynesia and to a lesser extent Wallis and Futuna, where oral and written knowledge of the French language has become almost universal (95% and 84% respectively), French increasingly tends to displace the native Polynesian languages as the language most spoken at home. In French Polynesia, the percentage of the population who reported that French
3996-779: Is a Romance language of the Indo-European family . Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire . French evolved from Gallo-Romance , the Latin spoken in Gaul , and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl —languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien ) largely supplanted. French
4144-400: Is a legal tender for no more than [...] twenty-five cents if the denomination is one cent." Nevertheless, once distribution of the coin ceased, vendors were no longer expected to return pennies as change for cash purchases and were encouraged to round purchases to the nearest five cents. Goods can still be priced in one-cent increments, with non-cash transactions like credit cards being paid to
4292-472: Is a widespread second language among the Lebanese people , and is taught in many schools along with Arabic and English. French is used on Lebanese pound banknotes, on road signs, on Lebanese license plates , and on official buildings (alongside Arabic). Today, French and English are secondary languages of Lebanon , with about 40% of the population being Francophone and 40% Anglophone. The use of English
4440-489: Is also a working language in nonprofit organisations such as the Red Cross (alongside English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian), Amnesty International (alongside 32 other languages of which English is the most used, followed by Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian), Médecins sans Frontières (used alongside English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic), and Médecins du Monde (used alongside English). Given
4588-430: Is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organisations including
Royal Canadian Mint - Misplaced Pages Continue
4736-462: Is an official language in 27 countries , as well as one of the most geographically widespread languages in the world, with about 50 countries and territories having it as a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. Most of these countries are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 54 member states which share
4884-625: Is considered an "uncollectible" coin, as an example last sold at Heritage Auctions in January 2010 for US$ 402,500 . Other valuable varieties ( US$ 100+ ) include the 1955 "no shoulder fold" (or strap) and the 2006 steel error penny. While the 1859 "Brass/Narrow 9" large cent variety is technically a pattern , some avid collectors place the coin in the business strike category. An example sold through Heritage in "Fine details" condition for US$ 9,000 on August 15, 2019. Valuable patterns also include brass pennies dated "1937" which were produced at
5032-652: Is enacted only in New Brunswick, where about one third of the population is Francophone. French is also an official language of all of the territories ( Northwest Territories , Nunavut , and Yukon ). Out of the three, Yukon has the most French speakers, making up just under 4% of the population. Furthermore, while French is not an official language in Ontario , the French Language Services Act ensures that provincial services are available in
5180-503: Is growing in the business and media environment. Out of about 900,000 students, about 500,000 are enrolled in Francophone schools, public or private, in which the teaching of mathematics and scientific subjects is provided in French. Actual usage of French varies depending on the region and social status. One-third of high school students educated in French go on to pursue higher education in English-speaking institutions. English
5328-404: Is known as Old French. The period of Old French spanned between the 8th and 14th centuries. Old French shared many characteristics with Latin. For example, Old French made use of different possible word orders just as Latin did because it had a case system that retained the difference between nominative subjects and oblique non-subjects . The period is marked by a heavy superstrate influence from
5476-469: Is often considered to be a useful skill by business owners in the United Kingdom; a 2014 study found that 50% of British managers considered French to be a valuable asset for their business, thus ranking French as the most sought-after foreign language there, ahead of German (49%) and Spanish (44%). MIT economist Albert Saiz calculated a 2.3% premium for those who have French as a foreign language in
5624-828: Is one of the official languages of such major international and regional courts, tribunals, and dispute-settlement bodies as the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights , the Caribbean Court of Justice , the Court of Justice for the Economic Community of West African States , the Inter-American Court of Human Rights , the International Court of Justice , the International Criminal Tribunal for
5772-576: Is taught in universities around the world, and is one of the world's most influential languages because of its wide use in the worlds of journalism, jurisprudence , education, and diplomacy. In diplomacy, French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (and one of the UN Secretariat 's only two working languages ), one of twenty official and three procedural languages of the European Union , an official language of NATO ,
5920-553: Is the language of business and communication, with French being an element of social distinction, chosen for its emotional value. French is an official language of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu , where 31% of the population was estimated to speak it in 2023. In the French special collectivity of New Caledonia , 97% of the population can speak, read and write French while in French Polynesia this figure
6068-483: Is the native language of about 23% of the Swiss population, and is spoken by 50% of the population. Along with Luxembourgish and German, French is one of the three official languages of Luxembourg , where it is generally the preferred language of business as well as of the different public administrations. It is also the official language of Monaco . At a regional level, French is acknowledged as an official language in
Royal Canadian Mint - Misplaced Pages Continue
6216-492: Is the second-most spoken language (after English) in the states of Maine and New Hampshire . In Louisiana , it is tied with Spanish for second-most spoken if Louisiana French and all creoles such as Haitian are included. French is the third most spoken language (after English and Spanish) in the states of Connecticut , Rhode Island , and New Hampshire . Louisiana is home to many distinct French dialects, collectively known as Louisiana French . New England French , essentially
6364-424: Is the sole official language in the province of Quebec , where some 80% of the population speak it as a native language and 95% are capable of conducting a conversation in it. Quebec is also home to the city of Montreal , which is the world's fourth-largest French-speaking city, by number of first language speakers. New Brunswick and Manitoba are the only officially bilingual provinces, though full bilingualism
6512-465: Is typical of cash rounding methods (not specific to Canada). While existing pennies will remain legal tender indefinitely, those in circulation were withdrawn on February 4, 2013. Based on technical specifications provided by the Mint Act , only pennies produced from 1982 to their discontinuation in 2013 are still legally "circulation coins". The Currency Act says that "A payment in coins [...]
6660-764: The Aosta Valley region of Italy where it is the first language of approximately 50% of the population, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands . It is also spoken in Andorra and is the main language after Catalan in El Pas de la Casa . The language is taught as the primary second language in the German state of Saarland , with French being taught from pre-school and over 43% of citizens being able to speak French. The majority of
6808-462: The Aosta Valley region of Italy; and various communities elsewhere. French is estimated to have about 310 million speakers, of which about 80 million are native speakers. According to the OIF, approximately 321 million people worldwide are "able to speak the language" as of 2022, without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses. In Francophone Africa, it is spoken mainly as
6956-604: The Canadian Bankers Association noted that some of those made that year were re-coined. Canadian pennies continued to be minted in England until 1907 with the opening of the Ottawa Mint . Concurrently, Queen Victoria died in 1901 and was succeeded by Edward VII , which required a new obverse portrait for the penny. British medalist George William de Saulles was chosen for the job, and designed
7104-539: The Democratic Republic of Congo . There is not a single African French , but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages . Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth. It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years. Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries, but written forms of
7252-485: The European Union , French was the dominant language within all institutions until the 1990s. After several enlargements of the EU (1995, 2004), French significantly lost ground in favour of English, which is more widely spoken and taught in most EU countries. French currently remains one of the three working languages, or "procedural languages", of the EU, along with English and German. It is the second-most widely used language within EU institutions after English, but remains
7400-559: The Francien dialect is one that not only continued but also thrived during the Middle French period (14th–17th centuries). Modern French grew out of this Francien dialect. Grammatically, during the period of Middle French, noun declensions were lost and there began to be standardized rules. Robert Estienne published the first Latin-French dictionary, which included information about phonetics, etymology, and grammar. Politically,
7548-877: The International Olympic Committee , the Council of Europe , the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , Organization of American States (alongside Spanish, Portuguese and English), the Eurovision Song Contest , one of eighteen official languages of the European Space Agency , World Trade Organization and the least used of the three official languages in the North American Free Trade Agreement countries. It
SECTION 50
#17327733925757696-602: The Miller chlorination process . The gold is then cast into anodes for electrolytic purification to 9999 fine using the Wohlwill process . The Royal Canadian Mint's bullion coin program consists of gold, silver, platinum and palladium maple leaf coins, as well as other products, such as MapleGrams. The Royal Canadian Mint's 1-ounce gold maple leaf coin was launched in 1979, and the 1-ounce silver maple leaf and 1-ounce platinum maple leaf coins were launched in 1988. In May 2007,
7844-626: The Oaths of Strasbourg and the Sequence of Saint Eulalia , while Old French literature began to be produced in the eleventh century, with major early works often focusing on the lives of saints (such as the Vie de Saint Alexis ), or wars and royal courts, notably including the Chanson de Roland , epic cycles focused on King Arthur and his court , as well as a cycle focused on William of Orange . It
7992-424: The Paris Mint . One such example listed by Stacks Bowers sold for US$ 4,230 on August 2, 2017. Canadian pennies are also included in three different collectable sets which include proof , proof-like (PL), and specimen (SP). Canadian pennies in specimen sets date back to 1858, while proof and proof-like coinage are modern in comparison. In addition to their inclusion in the commemorative sets mentioned above,
8140-436: The Parliament of Canada issued a proclamation (effective May 15) about a "New Bronze Cent" which was to be 19.1 mm ( 3 ⁄ 4 in) wide with a weight of 50 grains (3.24 g). These smaller pennies featured an unchanged obverse design with the effigy of George V looking left surrounded by abbreviations. The reverse was given a new design with "the words ONE CENT supported by a maple leaf on either side, and bearing
8288-416: The Royal Mint in London . From a business standpoint, this was a failure for Heaton as they "partly sabotaged" their own company by doing so. Enlargements to the facilities at the Royal Mint were completed in 1883, which meant they could handle Canadian coin production. The Royal Mint's deputy master made it "clearly known" to Canada's high commissioner in London that Canadian coinage would be handled by
8436-412: The Tudor-Gothic architectural style to create a distinctive identity in Canada's capital, and of the patriation of control over Canada's currency from Britain. The mint facility in Winnipeg was officially opened in 1976. The new facility was completely different in appearance from the facility in Ottawa. Architect Étienne Gaboury designed a striking triangular building that rises up dramatically from
8584-520: The United Nations , the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization , the World Trade Organization , the International Olympic Committee , the General Conference on Weights and Measures , and the International Committee of the Red Cross . French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended primarily from Vulgar Latin ) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in northern France. The language's early forms include Old French and Middle French . Due to Roman rule, Latin
8732-418: The heteronymous word meaning " hundred " ( French: [sɑ̃] ), this keeps the English pronunciation [sɛnt] . Slang terms include cenne , cenne noire , or sou noir (black penny), although common Quebec French usage is sou . The first pennies minted for what would later become the Canadian Confederation originated in legislation enacted in 1853. Per
8880-415: The master of the mint . Since 2018, Marie Lemay has held that position. The board of directors, through the chair, is accountable to the Minister of Finance . The minister serves as the link between the mint, Cabinet and Parliament. The mint was named one of " Canada's Top 100 Employers " by Mediacorp Canada Inc. from 2007 to 2010. For the first fifty years of Canadian coinage (cents meant to circulate in
9028-414: The 1990s include a dual-dated "1867–1992" coin which marked Canada's 125th anniversary. In 1997, the penny was changed from bronze to copper-plated zinc, which reduced the weight of the coin from 2.5 g to 2.25 g. The twelve-sided shape was changed back to a round shape during this time as the copper-plated zinc proved difficult to plate. Elizabeth II was honored on the penny in 2002 as the coins carried
SECTION 60
#17327733925759176-455: The 1990s) but these varieties are severely endangered or presumed extinct. French is one of two official languages in Haiti alongside Haitian Creole . It is the principal language of education, administration, business, and public signage and is spoken by all educated Haitians. It is also used for ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations, and church masses. The vast majority of the population speaks Haitian Creole as their first language;
9324-474: The 20th century, when it was replaced by English as the United States became the dominant global power following the Second World War . Stanley Meisler of the Los Angeles Times said that the fact that the Treaty of Versailles was written in English as well as French was the "first diplomatic blow" against the language. During the Grand Siècle (17th century), France, under the rule of powerful leaders such as Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV , enjoyed
9472-454: The 5¢ coin was changed to tombac in 1942; and the design was changed to a V for Victory in 1943. The composition was changed again to nickel- chromium -plated steel in 1944. The concept for the V design came from Winston Churchill's famous V sign, and the V denomination mark on the US 5¢ pieces of 1883–1912. A novel feature was an inscription of Morse code on the coin. This International Code message meant "We Win When We Work Willingly" and
9620-432: The Act 16 Vict. c. 158, the Province of Canada was to issue "dollars, cents, and mills" that would co-circulate with English shillings and pence. After five years, an order to mint new coins came in 1858 as an effort to improve the Canadian monetary system. This was needed as by this time, the pounds, shillings, livres , and sous in circulation had become antiquated. Pennies, or one-cent coins, were struck in bronze, had
9768-510: The Canadian capital, is also effectively bilingual, as it has a large population of federal government workers, who are required to offer services in both French and English, and is just across the river from the Quebecois city of Gatineau . According to the United States Census Bureau (2011), French is the fourth most spoken language in the United States after English, Spanish, and Chinese, when all forms of French are considered together and all dialects of Chinese are similarly combined. French
9916-614: The Caribbean that are collectively referred to as the French West Indies , namely Guadeloupe , Saint Barthélemy , Saint Martin , and Martinique . French is the official language of both French Guiana on the South American continent, and of Saint Pierre and Miquelon , an archipelago off the coast of Newfoundland in North America. French was the official language of the colony of French Indochina , comprising modern-day Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia . It continues to be an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia, although its influence has waned in recent decades. In colonial Vietnam,
10064-417: The Central Bank of Brazil. The RCM produced 84 million blanks for the 50-centavo piece. In August 1971, the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen placed an order for 2 million five-fil pieces. This was followed by an order from Iceland for 2.5 million one-crown pieces. In October 1971, the Bank of Jamaica asked the RCM to produce a commemorative ten-dollar coin in sterling silver, and
10212-408: The Empire, this local elite had been slowly abandoning Gaulish entirely, but the rural and lower class populations remained Gaulish speakers who could sometimes also speak Latin or Greek. The final language shift from Gaulish to Vulgar Latin among rural and lower class populations occurred later, when both they and the incoming Frankish ruler/military class adopted the Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin speech of
10360-416: The Germanic Frankish language , which non-exhaustively included the use in upper-class speech and higher registers of V2 word order , a large percentage of the vocabulary (now at around 15% of modern French vocabulary ) including the impersonal singular pronoun on (a calque of Germanic man ), and the name of the language itself. Up until its later stages, Old French , alongside Old Occitan , maintained
10508-413: The Ottawa mint had reached capacity while a large number of Canadian 10¢ coins were produced in the Philadelphia Mint in the United States and all numismatic coins were produced in Hull, Quebec . A 1968 study also showed that the Ottawa Mint facility was antiquated. Funds were allocated for a new facility, but no space within Ottawa was found. In April 1969, the Royal Canadian Mint was reorganized as
10656-519: The Province of Canada were first struck in 1858), the coins were struck at the Royal Mint in London, though some were struck at the private Heaton Mint in Birmingham , England. As Canada emerged as a nation in its own right, its need for coinage increased. In 1890, building a branch of the Royal Mint in Ottawa was proposed and was eventually authorized in 1901. The Ottawa branch of the Royal Mint
10804-458: The Queen shows a right-facing uncrowned bust with the same previously used Latin script. While the "P" mark below her bust was later dropped and replaced with the RCM logo in 2007, pennies continued to be minted using the two different compositions. In order to identify the difference, those made of plated steel were dubbed "magnetic" as they stuck to a magnet , as opposed to the "non-magnetic" copper plated zinc coins. Canadian pennies had been
10952-737: The RCMP and artistic achievement awards for the Governor General of Canada. The mint also produced the athletes' medals of the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games and the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The mint produced 615 Olympic and 399 Paralympic medals at their headquarters in Ottawa for the 2010 Winter Games. The mint also designed and produced the 4,283 medals for the Toronto 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am games. In 1979,
11100-793: The Royal Canadian Mint , including circulation coins, numismatic coins, and ready-to-strike blanks. In 1970, Master of the Mint Gordon Ward Hunter relaunched the Foreign Circulation division. A contract for Singapore was won in January 1970 to produce six million rimmed blanks in a copper–nickel alloy. This was the mint's first export contract since a contract for the Dominican Republic 32 years earlier. The second contract came in April 1970 from
11248-459: The Royal Canadian Mint's facility in Winnipeg. In 2007, the mint produced coins for a variety of other countries, such as New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. In 2008, the mint produced over 3 million coloured 50-toea coins for Papua New Guinea. These were the world's first coloured coins to circulate outside of Canada. In addition to adding a painted design to more than three million coins,
11396-518: The Royal Mint. Pennies dated 1884, and those dated 1886 to 1888, were all made in London for Canada. In 1890, the Royal Mint turned to Heaton again for coinage as there was possibly a "rush of business" that year. By this time, the mint was operating under a new name as Ralph Heaton III turned his father's mint into a limited liability company in 1889. The former Heaton Mint was now referred to as "The Mint, Birmingham, Limited" aka Birmingham Mint . When mintage for pennies returned to London in 1891,
11544-513: The coin is the one-cent piece , but in practice the terms penny and cent predominate. Penny was likely readily adopted because the previous coinage in Canada (up to 1858) was the British monetary system, where Canada used British pounds, shillings, and pence as coinage alongside U.S. decimal coins. In Canadian French , the penny is often known by the loanword cent ; in contrast with
11692-489: The coin remains legal tender. Nevertheless, once distribution of the coin ceased, vendors were no longer expected to return pennies as change for cash purchases and were encouraged to round purchases to the nearest five cents. Goods can still be priced in one-cent increments, with non-cash transactions like credit cards being paid to the exact cent. According to the Royal Canadian Mint , the official term for
11840-506: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French Penny (Canadian coin) In Canada, a penny (minted 1858–2012) is an out-of-production coin worth one cent , or 1 ⁄ 100 of a dollar . According to the Royal Canadian Mint , the official term for the coin is the one-cent piece , but in practice the terms penny and cent predominate. Penny
11988-434: The date on the reverse which signified that they were made in 1937. According to mint records 678,823 of these coins were minted; however only three are known to have survived to the present. The new effigy of George VI was designed by Humphrey Paget and was ready for use later in the year. The king is shown on the obverse side facing left, with the inscription " Georgius VI D:G: Rex Et Ind: Imp: ". The reverse
12136-519: The demographic prospects of the French-speaking nations of Africa, researcher Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry wrote in 2014 that French "could be the language of the future". However, some African countries such as Algeria intermittently attempted to eradicate the use of French, and as of 2024 it was removed as an official language in Mali and Burkina Faso . Significant as a judicial language, French
12284-448: The economic power of the countries using the language, the number of major areas in which the language is used, and the linguistic prestige associated with the mastery of the language (Weber highlighted that French in particular enjoys considerable linguistic prestige). In a 2008 reassessment of his article, Weber concluded that his findings were still correct since "the situation among the top ten remains unchanged." Knowledge of French
12432-594: The elites primarily spoke French, while many servants who worked in French households spoke a French pidgin known as " Tây Bồi " (now extinct). After French rule ended, South Vietnam continued to use French in administration, education, and trade. However, since the Fall of Saigon and the opening of a unified Vietnam's economy, French has gradually been effectively displaced as the first foreign language of choice by English in Vietnam. Nevertheless, it continues to be taught as
12580-595: The estimated 35 billion pennies that were in circulation. On the same day, Google celebrated the beginning of the end for the Canadian penny with a Google Doodle. Cash transactions in Canada are now rounded to the nearest multiple of 5 cents. The rounding is not done on each individual item, but on the total amount, with totals being rounded to the nearest multiple of 5, i.e., totals ending in 1 or 2 round down to 0, totals ending in 3, 4, 6, or 7 round to 5, and totals ending in 8 or 9 round up to 10. This
12728-504: The exact cent. The commemorative pennies in these sets were not meant for circulation. According to the Canadian Coin Digest , mintages for Canadian coinage are not always reliable in determining rarity. Most Canadian pennies are common and worth little over face value in worn condition. Aside from coin varieties , the most valuable Canadian pennies date from 1922 to 1926 due to their low mintages. In particular, "only
12876-516: The first government authority to adopt Modern French as official was the Aosta Valley in 1536, while the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) named French the language of law in the Kingdom of France . During the 17th century, French replaced Latin as the most important language of diplomacy and international relations ( lingua franca ). It retained this role until approximately the middle of
13024-915: The former Yugoslavia , International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea the International Criminal Court and the World Trade Organization Appellate Body . It is the sole internal working language of the Court of Justice of the European Union , and makes with English the European Court of Human Rights 's two working languages. In 1997, George Weber published, in Language Today ,
13172-829: The gender of the corresponding word in Gaulish. The estimated number of French words that can be attributed to Gaulish is placed at 154 by the Petit Robert , which is often viewed as representing standardized French, while if non-standard dialects are included, the number increases to 240. Known Gaulish loans are skewed toward certain semantic fields, such as plant life ( chêne , bille , etc.), animals ( mouton , cheval , etc.), nature ( boue , etc.), domestic activities (ex. berceau ), farming and rural units of measure ( arpent , lieue , borne , boisseau ), weapons, and products traded regionally rather than further afield. This semantic distribution has been attributed to peasants being
13320-499: The government produced about 825 million pennies per year from 2001 to 2005. Results from the survey indicated that as only 37 percent of Canadians used pennies, this amounted to 25 pennies per person. While no immediate action was taken by the Canadian government, studies were eventually conduced by parliament three years later. Sometime in mid-2010, the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance began
13468-456: The jewellery industry and industrial applications. The mint also provides Canadian and foreign customers with gold and silver processing, including refining, assaying, and secure storage. Additionally, the Royal Canadian Mint operates a technically advanced refinery in which it refines precious metals from a variety of sources, including primary producers, industry, recyclers, and financial institutions. The mint refines raw gold to 995 fine through
13616-500: The land was purchased and construction began, and by 1976 the facility was officially opened. In March 2012, the Canadian government decided to cease the production of pennies . The final penny was minted at the RCM's Winnipeg plant on the morning of May 4, 2012. In April 2012, the mint announced it was developing MintChip , a digital currency to allow anonymous transactions backed by the Government of Canada and denominated in
13764-401: The language are very closely related to those of the rest of the French-speaking world. French is the second most commonly spoken language in Canada and one of two federal official languages alongside English. As of the 2021 Canadian census , it was the native language of 7.7 million people (21% of the population) and the second language of 2.9 million (8% of the population). French
13912-479: The language, although it has now given way to Tamil and English. A former French mandate , Lebanon designates Arabic as the sole official language, while a special law regulates cases when French can be publicly used. Article 11 of Lebanon's Constitution states that "Arabic is the official national language. A law determines the cases in which the French language is to be used". The French language in Lebanon
14060-612: The language. The Act applies to areas of the province where there are significant Francophone communities, namely Eastern Ontario and Northern Ontario . Elsewhere, sizable French-speaking minorities are found in southern Manitoba, Nova Scotia , Prince Edward Island and the Port au Port Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the unique Newfoundland French dialect was historically spoken. Smaller pockets of French speakers exist in all other provinces. The Ontarian city of Ottawa ,
14208-479: The last to hold onto Gaulish. The beginning of French in Gaul was greatly influenced by Germanic invasions into the country. These invasions had the greatest impact on the northern part of the country and on the language there. A language divide began to grow across the country. The population in the north spoke langue d'oïl while the population in the south spoke langue d'oc . Langue d'oïl grew into what
14356-626: The mint began producing its own branded bullion coins, which feature a maple leaf on the reverse. Since 1979, the fineness of the gold used to strike the gold maple leaf (GML) coins has increased from .999 to .9999, and finally, to .99999 (for a special series from 2007 to 2009). In addition, GMLs are produced in sizes that are fractions of a troy ounce : 1 oz, 1 ⁄ 2 oz, 1 ⁄ 4 oz, 1 ⁄ 10 oz, 1 ⁄ 15 oz, 1 ⁄ 20 oz, 1 ⁄ 25 oz, and in sets that combine some or all of these weights. Special-edition designs have commemorated
14504-401: The mint produced the world's first and only 99.999% pure gold maple leaf bullion (GML) coins. Offered in limited-edition 1- troy-ounce (31 g) gold bullion coins, three series of these special GML coins were produced (2007, 2008, 2009) in addition to the 99.99% pure GML coin, which is produced on demand. A 100 kg version of the 99.999% pure GML coin was produced as a promotional tool and
14652-470: The mint since 1908, reverse designs have changed considerably over the years. The mint often introduces new commemorative designs which celebrate Canada's history, culture and values. Since 2000, all of Canada's circulation coins have been produced using the mint's patented multi-ply plated steel technology except for the $ 1 and $ 2 circulation coins, which started using this technology as of April 10, 2012. Many foreign countries have had coinage struck at
14800-443: The mint was required to identically orient the design on every coin. To accomplish this, the mint, in collaboration with Canadian robotic equipment manufacturer PharmaCos Machinery, developed its own robotic arm to "pick and place" each coin on the painting line, creating a new technical capability unique to the Royal Canadian Mint. The mint makes collector coins and related products for collectors and enthusiasts in Canada and all over
14948-410: The mint's board of directors, and 12 members on its executive team. The Royal Canadian Mint has four lines of business: Bullion and Refinery Service, Canadian Circulation, Foreign Business, and Numismatics. The mint produces and markets a family of high-purity gold, silver, palladium, and platinum maple leaf bullion coins, wafers, and bars for the investment market as well as gold and silver granules for
15096-584: The mint's gold refining capacity. In 1931, Canada became an independent dominion of the British Empire and the assets of the mint were transferred to the Canadian government. In December 1931, the mint was established as the Royal Canadian Mint and as a branch of the Department of Finance via an act of Parliament. In 1960, Master of the Mint Norval Alexander Parker proposed a new facility to expand minting capacity. At this time,
15244-463: The mint's original staff was Owen Toller. He started in the mint as a junior clerk and retired as an administrative officer after 45 years of service on January 6, 1953. Toller died in November 1987 at the age of 102. In 1979, the Royal Canadian Mint building in Ottawa was designated a National Historic Site , on the grounds the building is representative of the federal government's approach to using
15392-435: The mint. The president is Marie Lemay (appointed in 2019), and the chairman of the board is Phyllis Clark. In descending chronological order, the people who have been the mint's master engraver are: Cosme Saffioti, Sheldon Beveridge, Ago Aarand, Walter Ott, Patrick Brindley, Myron Cook, and Thomas Shingles . The government department responsible for the Royal Canadian Mint is the Department of Finance. There are 10 members of
15540-420: The necessity and means to annihilate the patois and to universalize the use of the French language". When public education was made compulsory , only French was taught and the use of any other ( patois ) language was punished. The goals of the public school system were made especially clear to the French-speaking teachers sent to teach students in regions such as Occitania and Brittany . Instructions given by
15688-652: The official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France; Canada (especially in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick); Belgium ( Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region ); western Switzerland (specifically the cantons forming the Romandy region); parts of Luxembourg; parts of the United States (the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont); Monaco;
15836-534: The other main foreign language in the Vietnamese educational system and is regarded as a cultural language. All three countries are full members of La Francophonie (OIF). French was the official language of French India , consisting of the geographically separate enclaves referred to as Puducherry . It continued to be an official language of the territory even after its cession to India in 1956 until 1965. A small number of older locals still retain knowledge of
15984-461: The penny in 1980 which included a slight reduction of 0.05 mm in diameter, and a weight change from 3.24 g to 2.8 g. These specifications only lasted another year before the penny was changed again in both shape and weight. Canadian pennies minted from 1982 to 1996 have a twelve-sided edge to them, which was put in place to help assist the visually impared . While their composition did not change, these new pennies were also lighter: their weight
16132-458: The penny, as the words Ind: Imp: ( Emperor of India ) had to be removed from the obverse of the coin. This change was made under article 7.2 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom's Indian Independence Act 1947 . As the dies omitting the title were not immediately ready for use, a small maple leaf was added next to the 1947 dated coins on the reverse for pennies minted into 1948. This
16280-466: The platinum maple leaves were sold in special issue sets in 1989 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the GML and in 2002 as a five-coin set featuring holograms. In 1999, the coins featured the polar bear design appearing on the inner ring of the $ 2 circulation coin. World War II saw low mintages of most coins, as the metals (especially copper and nickel ) were needed for the war effort. The composition of
16428-471: The preferred language of certain institutions or administrations such as the Court of Justice of the European Union , where it is the sole internal working language, or the Directorate-General for Agriculture . Since 2016, Brexit has rekindled discussions on whether or not French should again hold greater role within the institutions of the European Union. A leading world language , French
16576-501: The previous monarchs, her effigy is surrounded with Latin text which reads " Elizabeth II Dei Gratia Regina " (Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, Queen). For Canadian coinage, this marked the first time that master dies were made at the Royal Canadian Mint . Canadian pennies dated 1953 to 1955 come in two major varieties "with and without a fold of fabric" (aka strap) on the new effigy. The reason for this remains unclear as proposed theories include overly polished dies, or alternatively
16724-406: The public's interest but is also mandated to operate "in anticipation of profit" (i.e., to function in a commercial manner without relying on taxpayer support to fund its operations). Like private-sector companies, the mint has a board of directors consisting of a chair, the president and CEO of the mint, and eight other directors. Traditionally, the president of the Royal Canadian Mint is known as
16872-399: The public's interest, a Crown corporation has greater managerial independence than other government entities, meaning it may operate in a commercial manner. Like private sector companies, the mint has a board of directors composed of a chairman, the president and CEO of the mint and eight other directors. Traditionally, the president and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint is known as the master of
17020-468: The relief of the effigy being too high to strike properly. In 1956, the "Master of the Royal Canadian Mint" noted that 898 pounds of worn bronze coins and 545 pounds of World War II era tombac nickels were converted for use in one-cent coinage. High speed presses were installed at the mint in the early 1960s which meant that more Canadian pennies were being made at rates that exceeded 70% when compared to prior years. In 1964, Queen Elizabeth approved
17168-471: The rest largely speak French as a first language. As a French Creole language , Haitian Creole draws the large majority of its vocabulary from French, with influences from West African languages, as well as several European languages. It is closely related to Louisiana Creole and the creole from the Lesser Antilles . French is the sole official language of all the overseas territories of France in
17316-496: The surrounding prairie. Gaboury was design architect, in collaboration with the Number Ten Architectural Group led by partner-in-charge Allan Hanna. The Winnipeg facility produces circulation coins for Canada and other countries, while the Ottawa facility concentrates solely on collector coins . The Royal Canadian Mint is a Crown corporation and operates under the Royal Canadian Mint Act . In serving
17464-547: The tenth anniversary of the GML (1989), the 125th anniversary of the RCMP (1997), and the 25th anniversary of the GML (1994). A three-coin set was released to commemorate the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games (2008–2010), and a fractional GML set was issued in 2011 to commemorate the centennial of the mint's gold refinery. Renowned for its unrivalled purity, the mint's gold maple leaf remains one of the world's most popular bullion coins. The Royal Canadian Mint's silver maple leaf (SML)
17612-455: The throne, but he soon abdicated in December 1936. After his brother George VI assumed the throne on December 11, 1936, a new effigy was needed for Canadian coinage. As it was late in the year, the Royal Mint could not immediately make coins with a die depicting the new king with a 1937 date. It was instead decided by the mint to continue minting 1936 dated pennies with a dot added below
17760-466: The total number of French speakers will reach approximately 500 million in 2025 and 650 million by 2050, largely due to rapid population growth in sub-Saharan Africa . OIF estimates 700 million French speakers by 2050, 80% of whom will be in Africa. In a study published in March 2014 by Forbes , the investment bank Natixis said that French could become the world's most spoken language by 2050. In
17908-679: The two official languages—along with Dutch —of the Brussels-Capital Region , where it is spoken by the majority of the population (approx. 80%), often as their primary language. French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland, along with German, Italian, and Romansh , and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland, called Romandy , of which Geneva is the largest city. The language divisions in Switzerland do not coincide with political subdivisions, and some cantons have bilingual status: for example, cities such as Biel/Bienne and cantons such as Valais , Fribourg and Bern . French
18056-508: The urban intellectual elite. The Gaulish language likely survived into the sixth century in France despite considerable Romanization . Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French contributing loanwords and calques (including oui , the word for "yes"), sound changes shaped by Gaulish influence, and influences in conjugation and word order. Recent computational studies suggest that early gender shifts may have been motivated by
18204-485: The use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words. In Belgium, French is an official language at the federal level along with Dutch and German. At the regional level, French is the sole official language of Wallonia (excluding a part of the East Cantons , which are German-speaking ) and one of
18352-503: The word CANADA above and the date of issue below." During this transition period the old large cents were not withdrawn, but they were allowed to wear down through circulation until their redemption . Starting in 1922, a "period of economic malaise" that lasted throughout the mid-1920s led to low mintage amounts for pennies. Mintage figures "marked a hesitant return" in 1926; over two million pieces were struck that year. When King George V died in January 1936 his son Edward VIII assumed
18500-536: The workplace. In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese . In English-speaking Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, French is the first foreign language taught and in number of pupils is far ahead of other languages. In the United States, French is the second-most commonly taught foreign language in schools and universities, although well behind Spanish. In some areas of
18648-402: The world's French-speaking population lives in Africa. According to a 2023 estimate from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie , an estimated 167 million African people spread across 35 countries and territories can speak French as either a first or a second language . This number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as
18796-438: The world. Several of these coins have earned international industry awards and in 2010, the mint sold out the entire mintage of a record 25 collector coins. Made of base and precious metals, several of the mint's numismatic coins are enhanced by special technologies including holograms, enamelling, lasering and embedded crystals. The mint also produces medals, medallions and tokens as part of this business line. The mint produces
18944-417: Was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the ( Germanic ) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to the French colonial empire , there are numerous French-based creole languages , most notably Haitian Creole . A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French
19092-484: Was awarded a contract valued at US$ 1.2 million to produce 50 million toea coins for Papua New Guinea. The circulation coins were produced in denominations of 5 toea, 10 toea and 20 toea, and were manufactured at the mint's facility in Winnipeg. In 2005 alone, the RCM manufactured 1.062 billion coins and blanks for 14 countries. From 1980 to 2005, the RCM has manufactured approximately 52 billion coins for 62 countries. These coins were manufactured at
19240-470: Was controversial because the minister was himself from Winnipeg, and the facility would be more than 1,600 km (1,000 mi) from the Ottawa facility. A study showed that the proposal had merit because raw materials could be purchased from a supplier in Alberta, rather than a competitor outside of Canada. Eventually, it was agreed in December 1971 that the mint would build a facility in Winnipeg. In 1972,
19388-458: Was criticized by the public as the decision to omit " Dei gratia " ( by the grace of God ) was called "godless" and "graceless". As a result the words Dei gra were added into the design the following year, and large cents continued to be produced until 1920. Pennies were reduced to their modern size that year which brought them closer in size to the American penny . On May 11, 1920
19536-521: Was designed by George Kruger Gray and depicted a maple twig with two leaves; the wording "1 CENT" appears above them, and "CANADA" with the date is shown below. While pennies with their new design continued to be minted unabated throughout World War II , there was a change in composition. Starting on April 1, 1942 Canadian pennies had their copper content increased from 95.5 percent to 98 percent and their tin content lowered from 3 percent to 0.5 percent. India's declaration of independence in 1947 affected
19684-819: Was during the period of the Crusades in which French became so dominant in the Mediterranean Sea that became a lingua franca ("Frankish language"), and because of increased contact with the Arabs during the Crusades who referred to them as Franj , numerous Arabic loanwords entered French, such as amiral (admiral), alcool (alcohol), coton (cotton) and sirop (syrop), as well as scientific terms such as algébre (algebra), alchimie (alchemy) and zéro (zero). Within Old French many dialects emerged but
19832-464: Was first issued in 1988 and featured the same design as the gold maple leaf bullion coin. These coins are available to investors in 1 oz, 1 ⁄ 2 oz, 1 ⁄ 4 oz, 1 ⁄ 10 oz, and 1 ⁄ 20 oz sizes. In 2004–05, the coins were sold in sets of four coins that featured two wildlife species: the Arctic fox (2004) and the Canada lynx (2005). Each coin
19980-441: Was further reduced from 2.8 to 2.5 g. This did not help production costs: the Royal Canadian Mint noted in 1984 that a penny cost more than its face value to produce. In 1990, a third effigy of the queen was used for Canadian pennies which was designed by Hungarian-Canadian sculptor Dora de Pedery-Hunt . This third design depicts Elizabeth II when she was 64 years old surrounded by the previously used Latin script. Pennies minted in
20128-463: Was gradually adopted by the inhabitants of Gaul. As the language was learned by the common people, it developed a distinct local character, with grammatical differences from Latin as spoken elsewhere, some of which is attested in graffiti. This local variety evolved into the Gallo-Romance tongues, which include French and its closest relatives, such as Arpitan . The evolution of Latin in Gaul
20276-652: Was known in the Occitan-speaking region as Vergonha . Spoken by 19.71% of the European Union's population, French is the third most widely spoken language in the EU, after English and German and the second-most-widely taught language after English. Under the Constitution of France , French has been the official language of the Republic since 1992, although the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts made it mandatory for legal documents in 1539. France mandates
20424-504: Was later sold as a product when interested buyers came forward. The mint's core mandate is to produce and manage the distribution of Canada's circulation coinage and provide advice to the Minister of Finance on all matters related to coinage. Recently, up to two billion Canadian circulation coins are struck each year at the mint's facility in Winnipeg. While the effigy of the reigning monarch has appeared on every Canadian coin produced by
20572-498: Was likely readily adopted because the previous coinage in Canada (up to 1858) was the British monetary system, where Canada used British pounds, shillings, and pence as coinage alongside U.S. decimal coins. Like all Canadian coins, the obverse depicts the reigning Canadian monarch at the time of issue. Production of the penny ceased in May 2012, and the Royal Canadian Mint ceased distribution of them as of February 4, 2013. However,
20720-432: Was marked by a special design on the reverse side of each circulating denomination. For the penny, artist Alex Colville designed a depiction of a rock dove in flight, with a dual date of "1867–1967". The reverse design reverted back to George Kruger Gray 's maple leaf in 1968, and in 1978 slight changes were made to the composition and thickness which gave the pennies a "thin planchet ". Further changes were made to
20868-470: Was minted at the Royal Canadian Mint's Winnipeg , Manitoba plant on the morning of May 4, 2012. This widely publicized event included former Finance Minister Jim Flaherty , who ceremoniously "pushed a few buttons on the giant machine that pressed the final penny." It was then entrusted to the Bank of Canada Museum in Ottawa where it can now be seen on display. On February 4, 2013, the mint began melting down
21016-420: Was not the first major alteration; from a collector's standpoint "the mid-20th century brought a series of varieties to Canadian coins". King George VI died in 1952, and a new obverse effigy featuring Queen Elizabeth II appeared in the following year. The first effigy of Queen Elizabeth II was designed by sculptor and medalist Mary Gillick , who chose to depict the queen at 27 years old facing right. As with
21164-440: Was of a different value and depicted the animals in a separate pose. Colour and selective gold plating have also been applied to special issues of SML. Holograms have proved popular applications, having been featured on SML coins in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2005. In 2010, the mint introduced a new series of silver 9999 fine 1-troy-ounce (31 g) bullion coins featuring Canadian wildlife. The first coin, launched in late 2010, depicts
21312-540: Was officially opened on January 2, 1908. During a short ceremony, Lord Grey and his wife, Lady Grey, activated the presses. The first coin struck was a 50-cent coin . When the facility first opened, it had 61 employees. Three years later, the mint began refining gold by electrolysis in its assay department. This method proved to be too time-consuming, and, in 1915, the mint introduced a new chlorination process developed in Australia to reduce processing times and increase
21460-530: Was placed along the rim on the reverse instead of denticles. The regular reverse and composition were resumed in 1946. Chromium-plated steel was again used for the 5¢ coin from 1951 to 1953 during the Korean War , but the reverse was unchanged. In 1967, the mint introduced a series of commemorative coins in honour of the Canadian centennial . Designed by Alex Colville , every coin produced that year featured
21608-594: Was shaped by its coexistence for over half a millennium beside the native Celtic Gaulish language , which did not go extinct until the late sixth century, long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire . The population remained 90% indigenous in origin; the Romanizing class were the local native elite (not Roman settlers), whose children learned Latin in Roman schools. At the time of the collapse of
21756-570: Was the language they use the most at home rose from 67% at the 2007 census to 74% at the 2017 census. In Wallis and Futuna, the percentage of the population who reported that French was the language they use the most at home rose from 10% at the 2008 census to 13% at the 2018 census. According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l'Agence universitaire de la Francophonie ,
21904-403: Was thus forced to produce large amounts of pennies as they disappeared from circulation due to hoarding or avoidance by the public. On March 29, 2012, the federal government announced in its budget that it would withdraw the penny from circulation in the fourth quarter of 2012. In their reasoning the government cited the cost of producing a penny which was 1.6 cents per coin. The final penny
#574425