America famously has a Wheat cent, and now Canada has raised the bar by issuing a Wheat 5-cent coin.

The coin, which was released Oct. 1 and available exclusively to members of the RCM’s loyalty program, the Masters Club, features a classis design by Emanuel Hahn.

The Wheat 5-cent coin is the second in the RCM’s new Lost Designs from the Archives series, which brings to life unused coin concepts submitted in a 1936 design competition for the Canadian coin series of 1937.

Hahn (1881 to 1957) created the designs for the Voyageur and 1939 Royal Visit silver dollars, the “caribou” 25-cent piece and the Bluenose 10-cent coin, and his proposed “trillium” cent was featured on the first coin in the Lost Designs’ series.

Coin No. 2 is a rare peek at what might have been if Hahn’s design had been chosen for another denomination: the five-cent coin.

His hand-drawn sketch of a wheat-themed nickel has been pulled from the shadows of history and finally given a chance to shine on this Proof, 2-ounce, .9999 fine silver coin, where the strong emphasis on symmetry offers further evidence of Hahn’s keen eye for balance and harmony.

The obverse carries Sir E.B. Mackennal’s effigy of King George V.

The coin weighs 62.69 grams, measures 50 millimeters in diameter and has a mintage limit of 2,500 pieces. It comes packaged in a red lacquered wooden case with black beauty box and custom serialized certificate, and retails for $229.95 Canadian.

To order the coin, or learn more, visit the RCM’s dedicated website for Masters Club members, www.mint.ca/en/masters-club.

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