2018 Armistice Centenary Toonie
The 2018 Armistice Centenary Toonie is a circulating toonie. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2018
- Circulation mintage
- Not published
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- Laurie McGaw
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 2018 Armistice Centenary Toonie worth?
the 2018 Armistice Centenary 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 2018 Armistice Centenary Toonie rare?
- No. It was made in large numbers, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2018 Armistice Centenary Toonie coins were made?
- The Royal Canadian Mint has not published a circulation figure in our source.
- Who designed the 2018 Armistice Centenary Toonie?
- The design is credited to Laurie McGaw.
- What is the 2018 Armistice Centenary Toonie made of?
- Bimetallic multi-ply plated steel. It weighs 6.92 g and measures 28 mm.
- Is the 2018 Armistice Centenary Toonie still legal tender?
- Yes. Every toonie, commemoratives included, is legal tender in Canada.
Why the 2018 Armistice Centenary Toonie was made
At 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918, the guns fell silent on the Western Front. The armistice between the Allies and Germany had been signed hours earlier and it ended more than four years of fighting. Canadians spent the final months of the war in a string of hard-won advances later called Canada's Hundred Days and on the last morning Canadian troops were in Mons, Belgium. More than 60,000 Canadians died in the war, a staggering loss for a young country with a small population.
The date of the armistice became Remembrance Day, marked across Canada with two minutes of silence at 11 a.m. and the wearing of poppies. For the 100th anniversary the Royal Canadian Mint issued this toonie, built around two of the most familiar symbols of remembrance. Some of the coins have the poppy colored red and those colored coins were released into circulation along with the plain ones. The circulation mintage was not published in the source used for this page, so no figure is given here for either version.
How to recognize it
Laurie McGaw's design pairs a soldier's helmet with a large poppy. The helmet stands for the end of the First World War and the many lives lost in history's first mechanized war. Below it lies the poppy, the flower of remembrance. On the selectively colored coins the poppy is printed bright red, which makes them easy to spot in a handful of change. Plain coins show the same design in uncolored metal throughout. Look for the helmet above the flower to confirm you have this issue rather than another remembrance design. The Queen appears on the obverse in Susanna Blunt's portrait.
2018 Armistice Centenary Toonie by the numbers
The Royal Canadian Mint has not published a circulation figure for the 2018 Armistice Centenary Toonie in our source, so it cannot be ranked against other toonies yet.
What to check on your 2018 Armistice Centenary Toonie
- Confirm the design: the Armistice Centenary reverse dated 2018, 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.
No circulation mintage was published in the source for this coin, so it is hard to say exactly how it compares with other toonies. In practice both versions turn up in change and circulated plain coins are face value. The red poppy coins draw more attention, particularly when the color is complete. Color on a circulating coin rubs off with handling, so a coin with a full, bright poppy is worth keeping aside and can carry a small premium. A coin with patchy red has simply been well used. There is no evidence that partial color means anything special.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 2 dollars |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 2018 |
| Circulation mintage | Not published |
| Composition | Bimetallic multi-ply plated steel |
| Weight | 6.92 g |
| Diameter | 28 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Intermittent milling |
| Designer | Laurie McGaw |
Frequently asked questions
Is the red poppy toonie from 2018 rare?
Not especially. The colored Armistice toonies were released into circulation alongside the plain ones and many people found them in change. A bright, unscratched poppy is a nice find and can carry a small premium, but it is not a rarity.
What does the 2018 Armistice toonie show?
A soldier's helmet above a large poppy, designed by Laurie McGaw for the 100th anniversary of the armistice of November 11, 1918. On some coins the poppy is colored red.
Mintage figures: Toonie (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.