Sherritt Mint Medallion

Reverse

Logo of the Sherritt Mint with legends above and below.

Script: Latin

Lettering:
PURE NICKEL
SHERRITT
FORT SASKATCHEWAN,
CANADA

Edge

Plain

Comment

Some decades ago, the Sherritt International Corporation was contracted to mine nickel metal and create coin blanks for the Royal Canadian Mint. Because they already had this coin-making technology on hand, they decided to expand and open their own private mint in 1966. For some decades, it was the only private mint in the world to be backed by its own company-owned mines. The minting operations have since ceased, but Sherritt is still a major metal supplier to the Royal Canadian Mint.

This medallion was struck to demonstrate the capabilities of the Sherritt Mint, showing the purity and shine of the nickel metal refined at the Mint and the skill of the Mint's in-house die engravers. Medallions were distributed among Sherritt's traveling salesmen for promotional purposes.

This medallion comes in three sizes, with the smallest being approximately between the size of a Canadian nickel and dime at 20 millimeters in diameter, the middle size being slightly smaller than a modern Canadian half dollar at 26 millimeters, and the largest being just under the size of a typical Sherritt trade token at 32 millimeters. All three would be packaged together, demonstrating the Mint's skill at enlarging and reducing designs (compared to other amateur mints, which lacked such technical abilities).


The three sizes

A few brass versions of these medallions exist, most likely struck as trial pieces. One appears to have been intentionally worn down, perhaps to test the brass composition, or perhaps because it was kept as a sentimental keepsake.


For the record, Fort Saskatchewan is not located in the province of Saskatchewan. It is a city in the neighbouring province of Alberta, named for its location on the banks of the Saskatchewan River.