Royal Canadian Mint releases image of King Charles for all coins

The Royal Canadian Mint is calling it “history in the making.”

The image of King Charles that will soon be on all new coins was revealed Tuesday in Winnipeg.

It’s the first time since 1953 that a new face will be seen on Canadian coins, with the King replacing the image of his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II.

“It is such a beautiful piece,” Marie Lemay, president and CEO of The Royal Canadian Mint, told CityNews. “It’s a moment we can all realize: it’s been 70 years with the same monarch on our coins.

“For Canadians, this is an important time.”

The design is a profile of the left side of the King’s face, with him wearing a shirt, tie and no crown.

It will be pressed onto new coins and begin circulating next month.

“I had the privilege of doing the last strike (of the Queen Elizabeth coins) and the first strike (of the King Charles coins) and I feel very honoured,” said Lemay.

“I’m really looking forward to being able to send the coin to His Majesty and get feedback on the design.”

The design announcement came on the King’s 75th birthday.

Lemay says the process was done in “record time.”

“Normally designs on coins can take a year to 18 months,” she said. “This was done in six months. We got the go from the government on Coronation Day, on May 6.

“When I saw it, I was so pleasantly – I don’t want to say surprised… I thought it was just so beautiful. Because I had seen the drawing, obviously, but I had not seen it on the one dollar. And seeing it there just made it all come together.”

The work by Canadian portrait artist Steven Rosati was chosen from among submissions by 350 artists.

“It was exhilarating just to see the work come to life like this,” Rosati said. “It’s one thing to have done it as a sketch and working behind the scenes, but to see it actually printed like this is quite amazing.

“It’s something I’ll never forget. I wish I could relive it, now, again.”

Rosati says it was not easy coming up with the final design.

“Putting together a perfect profile of an effigy like this requires quite a lot of pieces to piece together to create one image,” he said.

“I had to find the right mouth, the right nose. There was a lot of photos that I researched and not one face was perfect, so I had to kind of piece them together.”

Rosati’s design was sent to Buckingham Palace for approval.

“The only reaction I’ve received (from Buckingham Palace) was approvals, so that was good enough to receive,” said the artist.

The Royal Canadian Mint says coins with both the King and Queen will co-exist for a long time as they transition.

“I’m really hoping that the tradition of having a monarch on our coinage continues for quite a long time,” said Rosati.

–With files from The Canadian Press