2022 Canada $20 1oz Silver & Black Rhodium Elizabeth II Royal Cypher Gem Proof Coin

Despite being issued in 2023, these gorgeous Royal Cypher coins from the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) are dated 2022, the last year of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. In addition, they employ not just the latest effigy of the Queen, but also the other three definitive effigies used by Canada since 1953, thus providing a poignant chronicle of the beloved monarch’s 70 years on the throne—the longest reign in British history!

To date, there have been four different obverse portrait designs of Queen Elizabeth II used on Canadian coinage, with new portraits introduced in 1953, 1965, 1990 and 2003. Before 1990, the Queen’s portraits—by Mary Gillick in ’53 and Arnold Machin in ’65—were designed by Great Britain’s Royal Mint and bore resemblance to those used on other commonwealth coinage. However, Canadian artists designed the 1990 and 2003 portraits, with the 1990 effigy by Dora dePedery-Hunt and the 2003 effigy by Susanna Blunt. They are both unique to Canadian coinage. All four effigies appear in a line on the obverse of these coins while the reverse shows a simple-yet-meaningful image of the Royal Cypher of Queen Elizabeth II, the program’s namesake. While the RCM has not yet made an official statement, it is extremely likely that 2023 will be the last year Queen Elizabeth II’s effigy will appear on coin issues.

Canada $20 1-oz Silver & Black Rhodium Elizabeth II Royal Cypher Gem Proof Coin has a limited mintage of 15,000