2006 10th Anniversary (Churchill) Toonie
The 2006 10th Anniversary (Churchill) Toonie is a circulating toonie with 5 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2006
- Circulation mintage
- 5,005,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- Tony Bianco
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 2006 10th Anniversary (Churchill) Toonie worth?
5 million were made, so the 2006 10th Anniversary (Churchill) 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 2006 10th Anniversary (Churchill) Toonie rare?
- No. 5 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2006 10th Anniversary (Churchill) Toonie coins were made?
- 5,005,000 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 2006 10th Anniversary (Churchill) Toonie?
- The design is credited to Tony Bianco.
- What is the 2006 10th Anniversary (Churchill) Toonie made of?
- Bimetallic: nickel outer ring, aluminum bronze core. It weighs 7.3 g and measures 28 mm.
- Is the 2006 10th Anniversary (Churchill) Toonie still legal tender?
- Yes. Every toonie, commemoratives included, is legal tender in Canada.
Why the 2006 10th Anniversary (Churchill) Toonie was made
The toonie turned ten in 2006 and the Royal Canadian Mint celebrated by giving the coin a fresh version of its own polar bear. The setting is Churchill, Manitoba, a small town on the shore of Hudson Bay that is often called the polar bear capital of the world. Every autumn bears gather near the town to wait for the bay to freeze so they can head out onto the ice to hunt seals. That makes Churchill one of the few places on Earth where people can reliably see wild polar bears and a natural choice for a birthday coin built around the animal.
The coin also marks a change in how Canadian coins are made. It was the first circulation coin issued with the Mint's new logo mint mark, which began appearing on Canadian coins that year. Instead of a single date, it carries the double date 1996 to 2006, the span of the toonie's first decade. The mintage dropped sharply from the early commemoratives: just over five million went into change, a fraction of the Nunavut and millennium runs. Collectors were also offered first strike versions of the anniversary coin in special packaging.
How to recognize it
Tony Bianco, who also designed the 2000 Path of Knowledge coin, gave the bear a new pose for the anniversary. Instead of standing on an ice floe as in the regular design, the bear looks up at the sweeping lines of the aurora borealis, which fill the sky behind it. That upward gaze is the quickest way to recognize the coin. The double date 1996 to 2006 confirms it, since an ordinary toonie shows only one year. Look also for the small logo of the Royal Canadian Mint, which marks this as one of the first coins to carry it. The obverse shows Queen Elizabeth II in the Susanna Blunt portrait introduced in 2003.
2006 10th Anniversary (Churchill) Toonie by the numbers
In mintage terms the 2006 10th Anniversary (Churchill) Toonie ranks 8th lowest of 13 circulating toonies with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2016 Battle of the Atlantic Toonie (5 million); the next more common is the 2017 Vimy Ridge Toonie (5.13 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2000 Path of Knowledge Toonie with 29.9 million, about 6 times as many. The scarcest is the 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Toonie with 4.31 million.
It was the only circulating commemorative toonie dated 2006.
What to check on your 2006 10th Anniversary (Churchill) Toonie
- Confirm the design: the 10th Anniversary (Churchill) reverse dated 2006, 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.
The circulation mintage was 5,005,000, around a sixth of the Nunavut figure but in line with most later commemorative toonies. Worn coins are face value. A clean, lustrous example with no marks on the bear's head can bring a small premium. The scarcer piece is the first strike: according to the Mint's figures, 5,000 of the tenth anniversary toonie were sold as first strikes and 5,000 regular toonies were packaged as first strikes with the new mint mark. Those carry a collector premium, but only in their original holders. A loose coin from change cannot be identified as a first strike.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 2 dollars |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 2006 |
| Circulation mintage | 5,005,000 |
| Composition | Bimetallic: nickel outer ring, aluminum bronze core |
| Weight | 7.3 g |
| Diameter | 28 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Intermittent milling |
| Designer | Tony Bianco |
Frequently asked questions
Why does the 2006 toonie say 1996 to 2006?
It celebrates the toonie's tenth birthday. The coin entered circulation in 1996, so the anniversary design carries both years. Tony Bianco's bear looking up at the northern lights replaced the usual reverse for this issue, which had a circulation mintage of 5,005,000.
What is a first strike 2006 toonie?
First strikes are coins from the opening days of production, sold sealed in special packaging. For 2006 the Mint offered 5,000 of the anniversary toonie and 5,000 with the new mint mark. They carry a collector premium only while still in that packaging.
Mintage figures: Toonie (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.