1995 Peacekeeping Loonie
The 1995 Peacekeeping Loonie is a circulating loonie. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1995
- Circulation mintage
- Not published
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- J. K. Harman, Richard Henriquez, Gregory Henriquez, C. H. Oberlander, Susan Taylor
Original illustration of the coin's shape and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Face value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1995 Peacekeeping Loonie worth?
the 1995 Peacekeeping Loonie is easy to find. A circulated one is worth face value; collectors pay a little more only for uncirculated coins.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition
- Specimen or proof finish from a Mint set
- Colored versions sold in collector packs
- A genuine mint error
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 1995 Peacekeeping Loonie rare?
- No. It was made in large numbers, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 1995 Peacekeeping Loonie coins were made?
- The Royal Canadian Mint reported 41,813,100 loonies for 1995 in total, with this design and the regular loon counted together.
- Who designed the 1995 Peacekeeping Loonie?
- The design is credited to J. K. Harman, Richard Henriquez, Gregory Henriquez, C. H. Oberlander, Susan Taylor.
- What is the 1995 Peacekeeping Loonie made of?
- Nickel plated with aureate bronze. It weighs 7.0 g and measures 26.5 mm, with an 11-sided shape.
- Is the 1995 Peacekeeping Loonie still legal tender?
- Yes. Every loonie, commemoratives included, is legal tender in Canada.
Why the 1995 Peacekeeping Loonie was made
Canadians have long seen peacekeeping as part of the national identity and the idea has a clear starting point. Lester B. Pearson, then Canada's foreign minister, proposed a United Nations emergency force during the Suez crisis of 1956 and won the Nobel Peace Prize the following year. Thousands of Canadian soldiers have served on peacekeeping missions since. In 1992 the country opened a monument to them in Ottawa, known as Reconciliation, on Sussex Drive. The monument stands near the National Gallery of Canada.
The 1995 loonie brought that monument into everyday change. It was the third commemorative loonie, issued into circulation alongside the regular loon dollar. One awkward point for collectors is the mintage. The published figure of 41,813,100 covers every loonie struck in 1995, the Peacekeeping coin and the ordinary loon together, so nobody can say from that number how many of the commemorative were made. What is clear is that it was released for general use and it still turns up in change and in old coin jars. It is a good example of why published mintages need careful reading before anyone draws conclusions about rarity.
How to recognize it
The reverse shows the Peacekeeping Monument, with figures of peacekeepers standing high on a ridge between walls that suggest the debris of conflict. The credit is unusually long because it follows the monument itself: J. K. Harman, Richard Henriquez, Gregory Henriquez and C. H. Oberlander created the original, while Susan Taylor is named for the coin. That list is a quick way to confirm which design you have if you look it up in a catalog. The date 1995 appears on the coin and the obverse carries Dora de Pédery-Hunt's portrait of the Queen. If you see angular walls with small standing figures above them, you have the Peacekeeping loonie rather than the loon.
1995 Peacekeeping Loonie by the numbers
The Royal Canadian Mint has not published a circulation figure for the 1995 Peacekeeping Loonie in our source, so it cannot be ranked against other loonies yet.
What to check on your 1995 Peacekeeping Loonie
- Confirm the design and date: the Peacekeeping reverse dated 1995. The 11-sided shape and gold color make a loonie easy to tell from other coins.
- Check whether it has added color. Colored versions come from collector packs, not from change. Keep them in their packaging.
- Look for even plating. Worn spots that show a different metal underneath are normal wear, not an error.
- Specimen and proof loonies from Mint sets have mirror or satin finishes that circulation coins never have.
Because the commemorative's own mintage was never separated from the 1995 total, you won't find a reliable figure for it and any number you see quoted for the design alone should be treated with caution. In practice it circulates like other loonies of the period and worn coins are face value. The small figures on the ridge are the first thing to wear, so a coin where you can still see them clearly is in better shape than most. Bright uncirculated examples can earn a small premium from collectors building a full run of commemoratives.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 1 dollar |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 1995 |
| Circulation mintage | Not published |
| Composition | Nickel plated with aureate bronze |
| Weight | 7.0 g |
| Diameter | 26.5 mm |
| Shape | 11-sided |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | J. K. Harman, Richard Henriquez, Gregory Henriquez, C. H. Oberlander, Susan Taylor |
Frequently asked questions
How many 1995 Peacekeeping loonies were minted?
No separate figure is known. The published 41,813,100 is the total for all 1995 loonies, including the regular loon design, so the Peacekeeping share cannot be worked out from it. Circulated examples are still common.
Where is the monument on the 1995 loonie?
It is the Peacekeeping Monument, called Reconciliation, on Sussex Drive in Ottawa. It opened in 1992 to honor Canadians who served on peacekeeping missions, a tradition linked to Lester B. Pearson's role in the 1956 Suez crisis.
Mintage figures: Loonie (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.