145 days to go – Royal Canadian Mint “Olympic Moments” coins, plus more on USA House!!

I have spent sometime tonight looking for more information on some of the Olympic Houses and Pavilions but am not having luck confirming some clues that I have, so I’m afraid some of them will have to continue to wait.  However… I can say with a high level of confidence that my guess that the Team USA House will be in the new condo building (currently called ‘Living Level’) at the corner of Seymour Street and Nelson Street is correct!  I can’t name my source as of yet but it was awfully gratifying to find some confirmation today of my sleuthing yesterday!

Alright!  Enough patting myself on the back, because my main story today amuses me as I just mentioned the FREE Collector Coin Cards available at Petro-Canada yesterday, and today??  The Royal Canadian Mint announces the three “Olympic Moments” coins that had been kept under wraps (talk about my timing being off… sigh).  Anyhow, the three coins are: 1) Men’s Ice Hockey – commemorating their Gold medal in 2002, 2) Women’s Ice Hockey – commemorating their Gold medal in 2002, and 3) Cyndi Klassen – commemorating the 5 medals she won in long track speed skating in 2006!!  Now comes the tricky part… the mint is making 22 million of each of these coins in the plain metal used for quarters, however, only 3 million of the 22 million will be in colour!  They will be hidden in random rolls of quarters throughout Canada.  So, if you have to have yours in colour (see the photos below) you can order a collector’s set from the Mint.  If you’re going to be brave and try to find them, well I’m with you!!  (I really hope this doesn’t mean I go and buy rolls of quarters until I find them…).

Olympic Moments - #1 Men's Hockey Gold 2002 Coin

Olympic Moments - #2 Women's Hockey Gold 2002 Coin

Olympic Moments - #3 Cyndi Klassen's 5 medals in 2006

Olympic Moments coloured coins in a collector's set

The dates for these coins (and the remaining coins to be released) are:

• 25-cent Moment 1 – Men’s Ice Hockey (September 29, 2009)
• 25-cent Moment 2 – Women’s Ice Hockey ( November 17, 2009)
• 25-cent Moment 3 – Cyndi Klassen (January 5, 2010)
• Lucky Loonie (February 15, 2010)
• 25-cent Paralympic Ice Sledge Hockey (March 18, 2010)

So keep an eye out, or visit your local RBC branch to try to get yours!  September 29th is coming up fast so don’t forget!!

It’s late, so tonight will be short.  I hope you’re all well and happy, wherever you may be.  Thank you merci for reading.  Until tomorrow…