Royal Mint plant for striking. This first phase of the mint was officially opened on 17 December 1968 by the royal attendance of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and their son Prince Charles. Originally there were fears that the Royal family would face protests because of the Investiture of Prince Charles as the Prince of Wales; however, such protests failed to materialise. The second phase of construction began in 1973 and included the addition of a means to mint coins from virgin metals completing the full minting process. Upon completion the final cost for the land, buildings and plant came to £8
Royal Canadian Mint coin, a howling wolf on the 50¢ coin, and a Canada goose on the dollar. A commemorative gold $20 coin was also struck for collectors' sets, with a coat of arms on the reverse. It is worth noting the Royal Canadian Mint wanted to commemorate Canada's 60th anniversary in 1927 with variant coin designs. For 1973, the usual 25¢ coin reverse depicting a caribou was replaced with a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer astride a horse, to celebrate the centennial of the founding of the North-West Mounted Police (now the RCMP). In 2007, the mint also released a $75 coloured