2015 In Flanders Fields Toonie
The 2015 In Flanders Fields Toonie is a circulating toonie with 5 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2015
- Circulation mintage
- 5,000,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- Glen Loates
Original illustration of the coin's shape and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Face value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 2015 In Flanders Fields Toonie worth?
5 million were made, so the 2015 In Flanders Fields Toonie is easy to find. A circulated one is worth face value; collectors pay a little more only for uncirculated coins.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition
- Colored versions from collector packs
- Specimen or proof finish from a Mint set
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 2015 In Flanders Fields Toonie rare?
- No. 5 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2015 In Flanders Fields Toonie coins were made?
- 5,000,000 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 2015 In Flanders Fields Toonie?
- The design is credited to Glen Loates.
- What is the 2015 In Flanders Fields Toonie made of?
- Bimetallic multi-ply plated steel. It weighs 6.92 g and measures 28 mm.
- Is the 2015 In Flanders Fields Toonie still legal tender?
- Yes. Every toonie, commemoratives included, is legal tender in Canada.
Why the 2015 In Flanders Fields Toonie was made
In May 1915, during the Second Battle of Ypres in Belgium, a Canadian army doctor named John McCrae wrote a short poem after the death of his friend Lieutenant Alexis Helmer. McCrae was a physician from Guelph, Ontario, serving with the artillery. He had spent days treating the wounded close to the front. The poem, In Flanders Fields, describes the poppies growing between the crosses of the dead and calls on the living to carry on. It was published in a London magazine in December 1915 and spread quickly.
Few poems have had such a lasting effect. In Flanders Fields helped turn the red poppy into the symbol of remembrance worn across the Commonwealth every November. McCrae himself did not survive the war: he died of pneumonia in France in January 1918. The poem is still recited at Remembrance Day ceremonies and its opening lines once appeared on Canada's ten-dollar note. For the 100th anniversary the Royal Canadian Mint issued this toonie, putting McCrae himself on the coin rather than only the flowers that made his words famous.
How to recognize it
Glen Loates shows John McCrae on the battlefield writing the poem, surrounded by poppies, birds and crosses. The figure and the blooms around him fill the core, giving the coin a quieter, more personal feel than most military designs. Look for the writing figure and the flowers to confirm your coin, with Queen Elizabeth II in Susanna Blunt's portrait on the other side. The design was also offered in a collector product that paired a colored version with an uncolored one, the colored coin showing the poppies in red. A plain silver and gold toned coin is the version that went into change.
2015 In Flanders Fields Toonie by the numbers
By the numbers, the 2015 In Flanders Fields Toonie ranks 6th lowest of 13 circulating toonies with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2015 John A. Macdonald Toonie (5 million); the next more common is the 2016 Battle of the Atlantic Toonie (5 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2000 Path of Knowledge Toonie with 29.9 million, about 6 times as many. The scarcest is the 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Toonie with 4.31 million.
It shared 2015 with 1 other circulating toonie design: the John A. Macdonald (5 million). The 2015 In Flanders Fields Toonie was the scarcest of the year.
What to check on your 2015 In Flanders Fields Toonie
- Confirm the design: the In Flanders Fields reverse dated 2015, in a silver-colored ring with a gold-colored center.
- Check whether it has added color. Colored toonies came from collector products or special circulation releases; keep them out of rough handling.
- Look at the join between ring and core. It should be tight and even; a loose or damaged core is damage, not a rarity.
- Specimen and proof toonies from Mint sets have satin or mirror finishes that circulation coins never have.
The circulation mintage was 5,000,000, so circulated coins are plentiful and sit at face value. The poppies and McCrae's hands are fine details that soften quickly with wear, so they are good places to judge condition. A sharp, lustrous coin can bring a small premium. If you find one with red poppies, it came from a collector product, not from normal circulation. Those colored coins are best kept in their original packaging, since the paint can scuff and collectors prefer complete sets.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 2 dollars |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 2015 |
| Circulation mintage | 5,000,000 |
| Composition | Bimetallic multi-ply plated steel |
| Weight | 6.92 g |
| Diameter | 28 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Intermittent milling |
| Designer | Glen Loates |
Other 2015 toonies
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 John A. Macdonald Toonie | 5,000,000 | Face value |
Frequently asked questions
Who is on the In Flanders Fields toonie?
John McCrae, the Canadian doctor and soldier who wrote In Flanders Fields in May 1915. Glen Loates shows him sitting among poppies as he writes. The coin marked the poem's 100th anniversary.
Is there a red poppy version of the 2015 toonie?
Yes, but only in a collector product, where a colored coin with red poppies was paired with an uncolored one. The coins issued into circulation are the plain version, of which 5,000,000 were struck.
Mintage figures: Toonie (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.