In 1955 the Bank of Canada branch in Arnprior, Ontario ordered a bulk shipment of silver dollars and received coins struck from dies polished until the fine water lines beside the Voyageur canoe had vanished. Collectors noticed, the town's name stuck, and the Arnprior dollar became one of the best-loved variety names in world numismatics - a rarity defined by what a small Ontario town happened to find in its bank bags.
The variety family has since grown its own folklore, including a die-break sub-variety collectors call the Fu Manchu for the thin moustache it draws on the King's... on the Queen's portrait it is a moustache nonetheless. Water-line varieties recur across the series wherever dies were polished, but Arnprior is the name that made the phenomenon famous.
The variety that proves mintage figures are not the whole story: 268,105 dollars were struck, and the ones that matter are defined by missing detail. Water-line count is the whole game - learn what a true Arnprior lacks, because ordinary polished-die coins are routinely optimistic about the label.
| Issue | Mint | Mintage |
|---|---|---|
| 1955 Canadian Silver Dollar | Ottawa | 268,105 |
Mintage figures: United States Mint (Annual Report of the Director of the Mint) and Royal Canadian Mint records, cross-checked across independent published references. Specifications: United States Mint coin specifications.