A Tribute: W Mint Mark series ends with a national symbol.

Canada’s smallest-value circulation coin features a reverse design that packs a lot of history into one image! In 2025, Castor canadensis celebrates its 50th anniversary as an official symbol of Canadian sovereignty, though the beaver’s connection to this land goes deeper: as a commodity, its fur made it an integral part of early Canadian history; and as a cultural icon, its likeness has appeared on everything from heraldic bearings to the first Canadian postage stamp. However, few depictions of the beaver are as iconic as George Edward Kruger Gray’s conception, seen here on this “minted in Winnipeg” coin that brings our popular Tribute: W Mint Mark series to a close.

Last coin in our “minted in Winnipeg” series.

Good to know

From the Winnipeg Mint. You’ve never seen Canada’s circulation coin designs quite like this: in 99.99% pure silver with a tailored specimen finish, and bearing the “W” mint mark of the Winnipeg Mint.

“W” Mint Mark. Coin #6! Last coin in a six-part series of 1 oz. 99.99% pure silver coins – a rarity for the Winnipeg Mint, which typically focuses its efforts on circulation coins rather than numismatic ones, and that’s why the “W” mint mark is so unique.

Celebrate a Canadian icon. This year (2025) marks the 50th anniversary of the National Symbol of Canada Act recognizing the beaver as a symbol of the sovereignty of Canada.

Tailored specimen finish. The five-cent coin’s reverse design has a nice satin sheen to it, while the field’s textured appearance is the result of angled lines inspired by our Winnipeg facility’s pyramid-shaped building.

Celebrate Canada’s circulation coins. An affordable series for collectors of all ages, the Tribute: W Mint Mark series celebrates Canada’s circulation coins and tells their story. This is the first pure silver numismatic series struck at our Winnipeg facility.

Honouring history. These circulation coin designs are part of Canada’s history and our heritage, and who better to tell their story than the facility that produces them!

The series concludes in 2025. The series that kicked off in 2023 comes to an end in 2025. Collect them all:
- Coin 1: Polar Bear
- Coin 2: Loon
- Coin 3: Coat of Arms
- Coin 4: Caribou
- Coin 5: Bluenose
- Coin 6: Beaver
Includes serialized certificate. The Royal Canadian Mint certifies all of its collector coins.

No GST/HST

**Struck in Winnipeg: Castor canadensis on a coin**

The coin affectionally dubbed the “nickel” – despite the fact that the element is no longer the main material found in the coin – has been struck at our Winnipeg facility since it opened in 1976. In that time (1976-2025), G.E. Kruger Gray’s beaver has enjoyed a nearly uninterrupted run on the five-cent piece, yielding only to the 60th anniversary of the Victory Nickel commemoration in 2005 and the 150th anniversary of Confederation in 2017, when Canada’s circulation coins all bore special themed designs for Canada’s sesquicentennial – and all were proudly struck in Winnipeg.

Did you know?

Seen here, Kruger Gray’s beaver design was originally intended for the 10-cent piece, but a more detailed version of it made its way onto the five-cent coin instead. As for his original five-cent coin concept, it ended up on a different denomination, too: the cent or penny, which featured Kruger Gray’s “two maple leaves on a sprig” design until 2012, when the penny was withdrawn from circulation in 2012.

Used for manufacturing waterproof hats, beaver pelts were fundamental to the economy of New France in the 17th and 18th centuries, and they continued to be in heavy demand until the mid-19th century. While the fur trade built Canada, it also resulted in the near extinction of the industrious beaver, which has since made a comeback across Canada.

The beaver became an official symbol of Canada on March 24, 1975, when the National Symbol of Canada Act (an Act to provide for the recognition of the Beaver (Castor canadensis) as a symbol of the sovereignty of Canada) received royal assent.

About the design

Your coin is encapsulated and presented in a black Royal Canadian Mint-branded clamshell with a black beauty box.

A numismatic tribute to Canada’s five-cent circulation piece, this all-silver coin’s reverse features George Edward Kruger Gray’s classic beaver design, along with the “W” (Winnipeg) mint mark denoting where this coin was struck. The obverse features the effigy of His Majesty King Charles III by Canadian artist Steven Rosati.

Product # 246126

5-Cent Fine Silver Coin - Tribute: W Mint Mark - Beaver (2025)