1999 Nunavut Toonie
The 1999 Nunavut Toonie is a circulating toonie with 25.1 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1999
- Circulation mintage
- 25,130,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- Germaine Arnaktauyok
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 1999 Nunavut Toonie worth?
25.1 million were made, so the 1999 Nunavut Toonie 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
- Colored versions from collector packs
- Specimen or proof finish from a Mint set
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 1999 Nunavut Toonie rare?
- No. 25.1 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 1999 Nunavut Toonie coins were made?
- 25,130,000 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 1999 Nunavut Toonie?
- The design is credited to Germaine Arnaktauyok.
- What is the 1999 Nunavut Toonie made of?
- Bimetallic: nickel outer ring, aluminum bronze core. It weighs 7.3 g and measures 28 mm.
- Is the 1999 Nunavut Toonie still legal tender?
- Yes. Every toonie, commemoratives included, is legal tender in Canada.
Why the 1999 Nunavut Toonie was made
Nunavut became Canada's newest territory on April 1, 1999. It was carved out of the eastern part of the Northwest Territories after the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement of 1993, the largest Aboriginal land claim settlement in Canadian history. The name means 'our land' in Inuktitut. The territory covers roughly a fifth of Canada's land mass yet has a very small population, most of it Inuit. Iqaluit on Baffin Island became its capital.
The Royal Canadian Mint marked the moment with the very first commemorative toonie. The two-dollar coin was only three years old at that point and the Nunavut design went straight into ordinary change across the country rather than into a collector set. That decision is why so many people still pull one from a pocket or a coin jar today. It also set a pattern the Mint has followed ever since: a special reverse issued in place of the familiar polar bear for a single year, so that several different toonies end up circulating side by side. For many Canadians in the south, this coin was a small, everyday introduction to a part of the country they might never visit.
How to recognize it
The reverse is the work of Inuit artist Germaine Arnaktauyok and shows an Inuk drummer in motion. Drum dancing is a central part of Inuit gatherings and celebrations, so the image suits a coin made to welcome a new territory. The figure fills the golden core of the coin, while the silver-colored outer ring frames it. To confirm what you have, look for the drummer where the bear would normally be and check for the 1999 date. If the core shows a polar bear on the ice, you are holding the regular design instead. The obverse carries Queen Elizabeth II in the portrait by Dora de Pédery-Hunt, which Canadian coins used from 1990 to 2003. Ring and core should sit flush with no gap between them.
1999 Nunavut Toonie by the numbers
In mintage terms the 1999 Nunavut Toonie ranks 12th lowest of 13 circulating toonies with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2017 Dance of the Spirits Toonie (10 million); the next more common is the 2000 Path of Knowledge Toonie (29.9 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2000 Path of Knowledge Toonie with 29.9 million, about 1.2 times as many. The scarcest is the 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Toonie with 4.31 million, 5.8 times fewer than this one.
It was the only circulating commemorative toonie dated 1999.
What to check on your 1999 Nunavut Toonie
- Confirm the design: the Nunavut reverse dated 1999, in a silver-colored ring with a gold-colored center.
- Check whether it has added color. Colored toonies came from collector products or special circulation releases; keep them out of rough handling.
- Look at the join between ring and core. It should be tight and even; a loose or damaged core is damage, not a rarity.
- Specimen and proof toonies from Mint sets have satin or mirror finishes that circulation coins never have.
With 25,130,000 struck for circulation, the Nunavut toonie is one of the most plentiful commemorative toonies ever made. Only the Path of Knowledge coin of 2000 had a bigger run. A worn example is a face value coin, plain and simple. Condition is what changes the picture: a coin with crisp detail on the drummer, bright original luster and no knocks on the ring can bring a small premium from people building a complete toonie set. Many of these have now been in circulation for more than 25 years, so truly unworn pieces are harder to find than that big mintage suggests.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 2 dollars |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 1999 |
| Circulation mintage | 25,130,000 |
| Composition | Bimetallic: nickel outer ring, aluminum bronze core |
| Weight | 7.3 g |
| Diameter | 28 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Intermittent milling |
| Designer | Germaine Arnaktauyok |
Frequently asked questions
Is the 1999 Nunavut toonie rare?
No. More than 25 million were struck for circulation, which makes it one of the most common commemorative toonies. A circulated coin is a face value coin. A crisp, unworn example is a nice addition to a set and can carry a small premium.
What was the first commemorative toonie?
The 1999 Nunavut coin. It marked the creation of the territory in April 1999, three years after the toonie itself arrived. Its Inuk drummer by Germaine Arnaktauyok was the first special design to take the polar bear's place in everyday change.
Mintage figures: Toonie (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.