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On 19th October 1911 “the Royal Mint of London, England sent dies for a new Canadian $1 silver coin to its Ottawa Branch; this coin is known today by collectors as the rarest coin from Canada.
According to articles from the present day Royal Canadian Mint, when the Mint began striking coins in 1908 (then known as the Ottawa Branch of the Royal Mint), a one-dollar coin had not yet entered circulation, but was desperately needed; so in 1911, the Mint struck a trial one dollar coin in lead, while London’s Royal Mint struck two trial coins in .925 silver.They were originally designed as pattern coins, to show the proposed design.
Since Britain was responsible for preparing and distributing most of the master tooling to its Dominions and colonies, the engravers were under great pressure as they were already busy preparing new coins to coincide with the coronation of King George V.
In their haste, they failed to include “Dei Gra(tia)”, (“By the Grace of God,” in Latin) on the inscription surrounding the effigy—an unfortunate omission that appeared on all smaller denomination coins that entered circulation and became known as “godless coins.”
Two specimens (silver and lead) are housed at the National Currency Collection museum in Ottawa while the other silver specimen is owned by a private numismatist.
The 1911 silver pattern dollar was sold at auction in 2003 for $1 million.”
Image and text thank you Canadian Coin News
http://canadiancoinnews.com/today-marks-anniversary-canadas-rarest-coin/
