2004 Lucky Loonie Loonie
The 2004 Lucky Loonie Loonie is a circulating loonie with 6.53 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2004
- Circulation mintage
- 6,526,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- R.R. Carmichael
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 2004 Lucky Loonie Loonie worth?
6.53 million were made, so the 2004 Lucky Loonie 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 2004 Lucky Loonie Loonie rare?
- No. 6.53 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2004 Lucky Loonie Loonie coins were made?
- 6,526,000 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 2004 Lucky Loonie Loonie?
- The design is credited to R.R. Carmichael.
- What is the 2004 Lucky Loonie 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 2004 Lucky Loonie Loonie still legal tender?
- Yes. Every loonie, commemoratives included, is legal tender in Canada.
Why the 2004 Lucky Loonie Loonie was made
The lucky loonie began as a secret. At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Trent Evans, an icemaker from Edmonton, buried a loonie under center ice at the hockey arena. Canada's women's team won gold, then the men's team won gold for the first time in 50 years. Once the story got out, the coin was dug out and passed to the Hockey Hall of Fame and the idea of a lucky loonie stuck. Evans placed the coin quietly. Only a handful of people knew it was there while the games were being played.
The Royal Canadian Mint turned that story into a tradition. In 2004 it issued the first official lucky loonie for the Summer Games in Athens, Greece and released it into circulation so anyone could carry one for the team. The series continued for every Games through 2016, making this the coin that started it all. A total of 6,526,000 were made, fewer than the next three lucky loonies. If you find one in your change, you are holding the opening chapter of a run that collectors like to put together in date order.
How to recognize it
The designer credited is R.R. Carmichael, the artist behind the original loon on the 1987 loonie and that is no accident. His loon returns here, now joined by the Olympic rings, which makes this coin the closest of all the lucky loonies to the regular design. That closeness is also how people miss it. At a glance it can pass for an ordinary loon dollar, so check for the rings and the date 2004 before you spend it. The obverse carries the Queen in Susanna Blunt's portrait, introduced on Canadian coins in 2003. The shape and golden color are standard for every loonie.
2004 Lucky Loonie Loonie by the numbers
By the numbers, the 2004 Lucky Loonie Loonie ranks 10th lowest of 19 circulating loonies with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2017 Toronto Maple Leafs Loonie (5.15 million); the next more common is the 2010 Navy Centennial Loonie (7 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1992 Confederation 125 Loonie with 23 million, about 3.5 times as many. The scarcest is the 2019 Equality Loonie with 3 million, 2.2 times fewer than this one.
It was the only circulating commemorative loonie dated 2004.
What to check on your 2004 Lucky Loonie Loonie
- Confirm the design and date: the Lucky Loonie reverse dated 2004. 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.
At 6,526,000 the 2004 coin sits in the middle of the lucky loonie run: scarcer than the 2006, 2008 and 2010 coins but more plentiful than the 2012, 2014 and 2016 issues. Worn examples are face value coins. Since it looks so much like a normal loonie, plenty stayed in circulation and picked up wear, so a sharp uncirculated piece is the better find and can carry a small premium. If yours is in a card or sealed packaging, it came from a collector product rather than change. Check the loon's head and the rings for rubbing, the first places wear appears.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 1 dollar |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 2004 |
| Circulation mintage | 6,526,000 |
| Composition | Nickel plated with aureate bronze |
| Weight | 7.0 g |
| Diameter | 26.5 mm |
| Shape | 11-sided |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | R.R. Carmichael |
Frequently asked questions
What was the first lucky loonie?
The 2004 coin for the Athens Summer Games was the first official lucky loonie. It followed the 2002 Salt Lake City story, when a loonie buried under center ice was credited with helping both Canadian hockey teams win gold.
How can you tell a 2004 lucky loonie from a regular one?
Look for the Olympic rings beside the loon and the date 2004. Both coins use Robert-Ralph Carmichael's loon, so the rings are the giveaway. Without them, you have an ordinary 2004 loonie.
Mintage figures: Loonie (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.