The 1967 Canadian Proof Set - Once a Big Deal, Now Forgotten

[BillJones]

Many collectors like to set aside coins that were minted in a year that was important in their lives. Most often it might be birth year set or a high school or college graduation. I graduated from high school in 1967. The U.S. coin set that was issued that was a Special Mint Set, which was not very special and not very exciting.

 

One of the big items that year was the 1967 Canadian Proof set which marked the 100th anniversary of Canadian de facto independence from Great Britain. The cent through dollar featured native Canadian animals on the reverse, but highlight of the set was Proof $20 gold coin.

 

Many U.S. collectors had a strong interest in this set with the $20 gold coin, but for them it was "forbidden fruit." The Gold Surrender Order, which had been in effect since 1933, expressly denied American citizens the right to own these coins. The only option was to bring the coins in from Canada illegally. The Canadian mint did issue a set with a silver medal in place of the gold piece, but that hardly seemed worthwhile.

 

One of the numismatic magazines, I think it was "Coins" sent a writer and photographer to Canada to write and article and grab a photo of the coin. The photographer took a couple of regular pictures of the piece a few Polaroid shots. In the end "Coins" ended up putting one of the Polaroid shots in a colorized form on the front of the magazine because that regular shots did not provide a true reproduction of the coin.

 

In December 1974 everything changed when President Gerald Ford ended the ban on American gold ownership. A number of the 1967 Canadian sets were brought into The United States, and they were popular for while, but then interest died. Today I have heard stories that a number of these sets have been sold for scrap, and to day one can find them at coin shows for around melt.