Rose, Lys, Thistle & Shamrock Flowers of Canada's 4 Founding Nations

The World's Purest Gold Coins
In 1998, Canada introduced a new gold coin with a face value of $350. It is produced in gold which is 99.999% pure making it the world's purest gold coin. Previously, the purest gold coins were produced in 99.99% pure gold, which although of very high purity, is not as high as 99.999%. Although we at Chard's think this a somewhat of a gimmick, there are those who appreciate fine things, including fine gold.

Fineness of Gold The fineness of gold for jewellery is traditionally measured in carats, but in recent years, it has also been measured as a decimal fraction of 1, 1 representing absolutely pure. It is in practice almost impossible to produce most substances with absolute purity. Historically gold bars used to be, and still are, acceptable at .995 pure (99.5%), and also .999 (99.9%), although now that most gold is refined electrolytically, it is common to find gold refined to .9999 (99.99%). This allows only 1 part in 10,000 of impurity, a very high standard indeed. It is unusual to find gold refined to a purity greater than .9999, but the Royal Canadian Mint obviously decided that this extra refinement would create extra interest in their coins. We should add that extremely pure materials can also be valuable in scientific or industrial situations, in which case it would probably cost much more to buy than our selling price for these coins.

Changing Designs Each year the design on these coins changes, for 1998, it features the "4 Flowers" of the Canadian Coat of Arms:-

Each of the four founding nations of Canada - the French, the English, the Scottish and the Irish - are symbolically represented by a floral emblem in the Canadian Coat of Arms, and these flowers will be the subject of a gold coin designed by Pierre Leduc in 1998. The lily representing France - is an ancient Christian symbol for purity, chastity and innocence. The English emblem, modelled on the wild rose, is a combination of the white rose (for the Royal House of York) and the red rose (House of Lancaster), and it harks back to the famous War of the Roses. The Scottish thistle honours a 9th century Scottish victory over the Norse. Legend has it that a nighttime ambush was foiled when the barefooted invaders stepped on unseen thistles and screamed aloud. In ancient days, the Irish shamrock was a mystic emblem associated with good luck and the sacred Celtic Sun Wheel. St. Patrick, when he came to convert the pagan Irish in the 5th century, used the shamrock to illustrate the three-sided nature of the trinity. The obverse bears the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by artist Dora de Pédery-Hunt.

Half Price - Save Nearly £475 Per Coin! One of our UK "competitors" charges £950 each for these coins. We think this is very expensive, but occasionally we can offer "secondhand" specimens at considerable savings as usual. This same competitor informs us that the issue limit for 2001 is 2,000 pieces, whereas the correct figure is actually 2,001 pieces, only a small discrepancy, but demonstrating their usual standard of accuracy and attention to detail nevertheless.

Specifications

Key to Table
Denomination = Face Value in Canadian Dollars
Diameter = Diameter in millimetres
Weight = Gross weight in grams.
Gold Content = Gold content in Troy Ounces.

Prices & Availability
The prices quoted in the US $ column may be out of date due to currency fluctuations.

Further Descriptions For those interested in further descriptions of the above coins, we have given each date its own page:- 1998 Four Flowers

Please check our Standard Terms for Bullion Coins .
You may wish to use our Order Form UK
Order Form USA .

Postage & Packing
UK Registered Post (Special Delivery) £9 per order
EU Insured Post £10 per order
USA Airmail $10, Insured Shipping $20
Canada Airmail $15, Insured Shipping via Fedex $60