Bank of Canada’s gold coins to be liquidated in federal push to balance books

[jeff of pa]

Canada’s first gold coins had barely been minted before Ottawa yanked them out of circulation a hundred years ago in an effort to stop gold from leaving the country during the First World War.
After a century of sitting in cloth bags inside the Bank of Canada vault, they are among a wide range of assets the Conservative government is liquidating – in this case literally – to save taxpayers a few dollars and help balance the books. The plan is to melt down more than 200,000 gold coins from the years 1912 to 1914, when Ottawa suspended the gold standard.

Bank of Canada?s gold coins to be liquidated in federal push to balance books - The Globe and Mail

 

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[Mackaydon]

Hopefully, someone at that mint will realize that it would be a waste of money to melt any 1914 $5 sovereign since there were only 31,122 minted and their current retail value in XF-40 starts at about $450 and rises to about $3,000 per coin in MS -63. No doubt, the majority will be 1912 $5 sovereigns, but even they are valued at about $450 in MS-60; far above the (about) quarter of an ounce in gold per coin.
Don.........

 

[Bum Luck]

............ After a century of sitting in cloth bags inside the Bank of Canada vault, they are among a wide range of assets the Conservative government is liquidating – in this case literally – to save taxpayers a few dollars and help balance the books. ......

Sounds like a bad idea to me.........

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Mackaydon:

I remember when the US Mint liquidated a huge stock of silver dollars. It sold them at "collector" prices!

Happy New Year to all,

~ The Old Bookaroo

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I agree! Think of the enthusiasm it would inject into the coin collecting world! Remember the Carson City dollars? That certainly perked up the market for a while.

 

[Mackaydon]

Here's a thought: The total mintage of 1912 through 1914 sovereigns and $5 pieces was only 355k pieces. If the mint holds (say) 200k pieces of that population and released them back to the public, what would the values then be? Another way of asking: If the circulating supply would suddenly more than double, what would the value of these coins drop to? BV only, perhaps?
Don........

 

[Bum Luck]

Here's a thought: The total mintage of 1912 through 1914 sovereigns and $5 pieces was only 355k pieces. If the mint holds (say) 200k pieces of that population and released them back to the public, what would the values then be? Another way of asking: If the circulating supply would suddenly more than double, what would the value of these coins drop to? BV only, perhaps?
Don........

My guess is that the market would suck them up like victims in a bank scheme .....