Common Loon Loonie (1987 to today)
The Common Loon Loonie is the everyday loonie reverse from 1987 to today. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1987 to today
- Circulation mintage
- Not published
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- Robert-Ralph 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 Common Loon Loonie worth?
The everyday loon dollar is worth face value in circulated condition. Collectors pay a premium only for specimen and proof coins from sets, first strikes in their original holders and the occasional mint error.
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 Common Loon Loonie rare?
- No. It was made in large numbers, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many Common Loon Loonie coins were made?
- The Royal Canadian Mint has not published a circulation figure in our source.
- Who designed the Common Loon Loonie?
- The design is credited to Robert-Ralph Carmichael.
- What is the Common Loon Loonie made of?
- Nickel plated with aureate bronze (1987 to 2011); multi-ply plated steel (from 2012). It weighs 7.0 g (to 2011), 6.27 g (from 2012) and measures 26.5 mm, with an 11-sided shape.
- Is the Common Loon Loonie still legal tender?
- Yes. Every loonie, commemoratives included, is legal tender in Canada.
The story of the Common Loon Loonie
The loonie arrived on June 30, 1987, to replace the one-dollar bill. A coin costs more to make than a note but lasts many years longer, so the change saved money over time. The Bank of Canada stopped issuing the dollar bill in 1989 and Canadians soon nicknamed the new coin after the bird on its reverse. The name stuck so well that the two-dollar coin introduced in 1996 became the toonie. Today it is one of the most recognizable coins in the world.
The loon was not the original plan. The Royal Canadian Mint intended to use the voyageur design, the canoe scene that had appeared on Canadian silver dollars since 1935. In 1986, however, the master dies were lost in transit while being shipped between Ottawa and Winnipeg. Rather than risk counterfeits from dies that might be in the wrong hands, the Mint chose a new design. Robert-Ralph Carmichael's common loon was selected and it has been on the coin ever since.
The first loonies were nickel plated with aureate bronze, giving them their golden color and were struck in an eleven-sided shape that is easy to recognize by touch. They weigh 7 grams and measure 26.5 millimeters across. In 2012 the Mint switched to multi-ply plated steel, which made the coin lighter at 6.27 grams. The design gained an unofficial legend in 2002, when an icemaker buried a loonie at center ice of the Olympic hockey rink in Salt Lake City and both Canadian teams won gold. That story led directly to the lucky loonies issued for every Olympics from 2004 to 2016. The original lucky loonie now sits in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
How to recognize it
Carmichael's reverse shows a common loon floating on calm water, with CANADA above and DOLLAR below. It is a simple, quiet image and has barely changed since 1987. The obverse has changed several times: the Queen by Arnold Machin until 1989, Dora de Pédery-Hunt's portrait from 1990, Susanna Blunt's from 2003 and King Charles III by Steven Rosati from 2023. From 2006 the Mint's logo appears as a mint mark. Check the portrait and date to place your coin in the run. The edge is plain. Coins dated 1992 carry the double date 1867 to 1992 for the Confederation anniversary. The reverse has stayed so stable that the date and obverse portrait do almost all the work of identifying a coin.
Common Loon Loonie by the numbers
Year-by-year loon dollar mintages are not part of our source, so this page does not rank the loon by date. The published figures cover the collector side instead: 24 special designs struck only for specimen sets between 1997 and 2025, the smallest being the 2020 Black-footed ferret with 25,000.
The Mint also sold "first strike" loonies in special holders: 2005 Common Loon (1,944), 2005 Terry Fox (19,949), 2006 Lucky Loonie (20,010), 2006 With new Mint mark (5,000) and 2023 King Charles III obverse (15,000). A first strike is only worth a premium in its original holder, because once it is out the coin cannot be told from any other of its date.
What to check on your Common Loon Loonie
- Confirm the design and date: the common loon on water. 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.
Ordinary loon dollars are face value coins in circulated condition. The more interesting pieces sit in specimen sets, which since 1997 have carried a special loonie design: Jean-Luc Grondin's tenth anniversary coin (97,595 made), Dora de Pédery-Hunt's 2002 fifteenth anniversary coin (67,672), then birds and wildlife from 2004 onward, down to just 25,000 for the 2020 black-footed ferret. First strikes include a 2005 Common Loon of only 1,944, 5,000 with the new 2006 mint mark and 15,000 with the 2023 King Charles III obverse. Those set and first strike coins carry a collector premium. Most of those birds appeared only in the sets, never in change. Arnold Nogy's 2012 design for the twenty-fifth anniversary marked another milestone.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 1 dollar |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 1987 to today |
| Circulation mintage | Not published |
| Composition | Nickel plated with aureate bronze (1987 to 2011); multi-ply plated steel (from 2012) |
| Weight | 7.0 g (to 2011), 6.27 g (from 2012) |
| Diameter | 26.5 mm |
| Shape | 11-sided |
| Edge | Plain |
| Designer | Robert-Ralph Carmichael |
Frequently asked questions
Why is the loonie not a voyageur design?
The voyageur was planned, but the master dies were lost in transit in 1986. To avoid any risk of counterfeiting, the Mint chose Robert-Ralph Carmichael's common loon instead and the coin entered circulation in 1987. The voyageur had been used on silver dollars since 1935.
What is the rarest regular loonie?
The hardest pieces are not from change. The 2005 Common Loon first strike had only 1,944 made and specimen set designs such as the 2020 black-footed ferret, at 25,000, are far scarcer than circulating loonies. Circulation loon dollars are face value.
Are old nickel loonies different from new ones?
Yes. Loonies from 1987 to 2011 are nickel plated with aureate bronze. From 2012 the Mint used multi-ply plated steel, which made the coin lighter. The design and eleven-sided shape stayed the same. Steel coins weigh 6.27 grams against 7 grams for nickel ones.
Mintage figures: Loonie (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.