Scottish-born inventor and scientist Alexander Graham Bell famously founded American Telephone & Telegraph, but he called Canada home for many years. 

One hundred years after his death, he is the subject of a new gold coin from the Royal Canadian Mint.

The Proof 2022 .9999 fine gold $100 coin features a portrait of Bell (1847 to 1922) on the reverse with a depiction of the liquid transmitter that served as an experimental telephone in 1876, in a design by Canadian artist Simon Ng.

A wide outer border features a mix of laser-engraved patent drawings and blueprint illustrations of some of Bell’s many inventions.

The obverse features the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt.

Bell’s legacy

“With insatiable curiosity, Dr. Bell constantly sought ways to better the world,” said Marian Weissman, teacher and Bell descendent, according to the RCM. “After losing two brothers to tuberculosis, he considered methods to generate clean energy that would not exacerbate what he called the ‘Greenhouse effect.’ When he lost his two premature sons, he devised an apparatus that was the precursor to the iron lung. Bell was a true visionary, seeing beyond all horizons, from sound transmission and recording, to photo phone and human flight.”

Bell had more than 18 patents to his name, and 12 more that he shared with collaborators. Many of his other ideas would be expanded upon by inventors and scientists who left their own marks on our modern world.

Coin specifications

The coin weighs 7.8 grams and measure 20 millimeters in diameter. It is encapsulated and presented in a Royal Canadian Mint-branded clamshell case with a black beauty box.

The coin has a mintage of 2,000 pieces and retails for $999.95 Canadian.

To order the 2022 coin, visit the RCM website.

This is not the first Canadian coin to depict Bell — in 1997, the Royal Canadian Mint issued a Proof .583 fine gold $100 coin marking the 150th anniversary of his birth.

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