The Winnipeg Mint is the powerhouse of Canada's high-volume coin production. Here, the industry's most technologically advanced processes and equipment produce up to 15 million plated coins each day for Canadian and foreign circulation. Our adherence to only the highest manufacturing standards is what makes the Royal Canadian Mint a valued provider of coins to countries worldwide.

How does the Mint produce circulation coins?
Circulation coins are minted using patented technology and rigorous statistical sampling to ensure the highest standards in quality. The entire process is amazingly efficient, owing to the most advanced minting techniques in the world.

In the beginning...
Large coiled strips of core steel are fed into a high capacity punch press, producing 22 blanks per strike at 600 strikes per minute - that adds up to more than 13,000 every 60 seconds!

Refining the raw materials
The core metal blanks are deburred to remove any rough edges, then rimmed (a raising and slight rounding of the edges), annealed (heated to better receive the strike), and cleaned.

Better protection
Electroplating is the practice by which steel coin blanks are coated with nickel and copper plate for protection - the Mint's exclusive patented Multi-Ply Plating technique is the world's only multi-ply layer process that can match the electromagnetic signature of any traditional alloy coin. It's a great security advantage for the coin-operated vending industry.

Exacting standards
After plating, the coins are dried, polished and then sorted by a state-of-the-art visual inspection camera which examines up to 180,000 blanks per hour for blistering, colour variations, and surface defects. Now the coins are ready for striking by a high-speed coining press. Once the coins have been rolled and wrapped, they are shipped to the Mint's coin pool sites across the country for final distribution to financial institutions.