The Royal Canadian Mint
Introduction
(Title card: Wayne Wouters, Clerk of the Privy Council, and Michael Horgan, Deputy Minister of Finance Canada, visit the Royal Canadian Mint on September 29, 2011)
(Title card: One of Canada’s oldest institutions, the Mint is also a modern, leading-edge producer of circulation and non-circulation coins, in Canada and around the world.)
In operation since 1908, the Royal Canadian Mint is a commercial Crown corporation responsible for the production of all Canadian circulation coins and for the management of the coin distribution system for the Government of Canada. Established and mandated by the Royal Canadian Mint Act, it is one of the world’s foremost producers of circulation, collector and precious metal investment products. The Mint also operates gold and silver refineries. (Shot of the Clerk and Deputy Minister Horgan entering and being shown around a room housing many shelves of gold bars)
The Mint combines modern business practices with over a century of coin production experience to deliver unrivalled quality and value to customers and stakeholders from its facilities in Ottawa and Manitoba. The facility has been built on its reputation for crafting the world’s best coins while advancing the science and technology of minting. (tour continues)
Countries all over the world, including Panama, New Zealand, Ghana, Barbados, the United Arab Emirates, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia and Fiji have chosen circulation coins made by the Mint’s patented Multi-Ply Plated Steel technology. This unique technology, combining alternating layers of copper and nickel around a steel core, produces the world’s most durable, secure and economical circulation coins. (Deputy Minister Horgan and the Clerk take turns holding a gold bar and testing its weight in their hands.)
Press Room
(The Clerk is being shown a machine in the press room by a worker. Worker’s voice is difficult to hear – caption: It’s just a sensor, so you just have to touch it. So, we’ll try again. The Clerk uses the machine to press a coin.) As a self-financing Crown corporation competing for business in Canada and around the world, the Royal Canadian Mint is committed to reinvesting its profits in research and development, new equipment and technology. Its new press room is a state-of-the-art facility where perfection is the order of the day. This is where collector coins, acclaimed for their craftsmanship and innovation, are made for customers from Canada and around the world. (Clerk picks up the coin he has struck. Voice off – caption: You might have that Boreal Forest on your fingers! Clerk – caption: It’s OK. Laughter.
Gold Pour Sequence
The Royal Canadian Mint has been operating a gold refinery at its Ottawa facility since 1911. The process of pouring gold into bars has changed little over the centuries, but the Mint has led the field in improving its purity. (The Clerk and the Deputy Minister are shown the refinery, where a worker is preparing to pour gold into a bar.)
The Mint made Canada synonymous with excellence in 1982 when it introduced the world to the first gold refined to 99.999% purity. It raised the bar again in 1998 by refining gold to “five-nines” purity; a feat that remains unmatched to this day. (Worker pours gold into a mold, with close-up of mold being filled to the top. Cut to a finished gold bar. The same worker removes a gold bar from what looks like a water bath in a large sink, and then places the other bar into the bath. Cut to the Clerk in conversation with the man who has been leading the tour.)
Closing
For more information about the Royal Canadian Mint, please visit www.mint.ca (Close up on a number of gold bars. Caption: www.mint.ca)