The Circulating Legal Tender section; Page 1 to page 249: All the new and current information has been added, new issues from the 2004 Poppy quarter, the 2005 Saskatchewan and Alberta 25 cent coins to the one dollar 25th anniversary of Terry Fox¡¯s Marathon of Hope. A newly found 50 cent, 1881 copper pattern, and the new 2004 Test Token set are listed and priced. Prices have undergone a complete revision on two fronts, first by giving more weight to land and virtual auction prices realized, and secondly, by removing from the pricing columns all prices that are not supported by the ICCS 2005 POPS report. It is difficult to price a coin when after nearly twenty years it has never turned up for grading.
The Non-Circulating Legal Tender section; Page 250 to page 457: The Royal Canadian Mint issues for 2004 and the first quarter of 2005 are illustrated, listed and priced. Over thirty newly designed coins were added to the NCLT collection for 2004 and 2005. With the Mint now producing either to demand or to a very limited mintage, prices are proving to be more interesting to the collector. Another innovation this year in the 60th Edition are the new pricing tables indicating what the major dealers in the industry feel is the average condition of the NCLT coins. For example, proof sets, the coins will be found in an average grade of PR-67. Of course a grading company when asked to specifically grade a coin from a proof set may assign the average, PR-67, but could easily grade higher or lower, depending on the actual quality.
The Variety Section; Page 458 to page 547: The Variety Section in the 60th Edition is devoted solely to dollar varieties, with over a hundred different listings. This marks the beginning of a Variety Section devoted to a single denomination with the varieties being listed in chronological order.
Over 15 different varieties of the counterstamped ¡°JOP¡° dollars are listed, along with two stamps that are set aside as possible counterfeits.
Two newly recorded varieties, a 1947 Blunt 7 with a low ¡°47¡± and a 1948 with a low ¡°4¡± and large ¡°8¡± are illustrated for the variety dollar collector who thought he had everything.
The NCLT section contains for the first time a description of the finishes used on coins issued from 1954 to 2005. Since 1981 finishes have become a marketing tool of the Royal Canadian Mint. Grading companies are now assigning Proof and Specimen numerical grades recognizing the importance of the finish on coins.
In the 61st Edition, next year, the 50 cent coin and its varieties will move to centre stage and will appear in that edition.
The 60th Edition of the Canadian Coins is available from Numismatic Dealers, Bookstores, Online Bookstores or directly from the Publisher.
