Commemorative coins of Canada note issued by the Bank of Canada and the Voyageur dollar. For the list of commemorative one dollar coins issued by the Mint since 1987, see: Loonie. The fifty cent coin has borne the Canadian coat of arms on its reverse since the current coin designs were introduced in 1937. There were minor changes to the design of the arms in 1959, when the depiction of the arms was simplified. As well, the Queen suggested that the Tudor crown on the arms be replaced with the crown of St Edward the Confessor. Although a circulating coin, the fifty-cent coin is
History of the Canadian dollar and British coppers, low-value tokens issued by private banks or merchants, even brass buttons in some cases. Working with the banks, the federal government gradually had all of the pre-Confederation and foreign pennies removed from circulation. In 1876, the Canadian one-cent coin finally was issued. The new Canadian government issued its first notes in 1870. The first issue was in denominations of twenty-five cents (nicknamed a "shinplaster"), one dollar and two dollars. The twenty-five cent note featured Britannia, the one-dollar note featured Jacques Cartier, and the two-dollar note featured General James Wolfe and the Marquis de Montcalm. The twenty-five cent