"Centsation!" Royal Canadian Mint

Millennium quarters

In April 1998, the Mint announced the Millennium Coin Design Contest, a contest open to all Canadians to submit designs for twenty-four millennium quarters, one for each month of 1999 and 2000. The 1999 designs were meant to look back on Canada's past, while the 2000 designs looked to the future. While the 1999 coins were labeled with their month of issue, the 2000 coins were labeled with the relevant theme. To celebrate the new millennium, Canada created a two year circulating commemorative program that would be conducted in two parts (one in 1999 and one in 2000). Each program released 12 quarters per year ( 1 per month) and each featured a unique design.The 1999 plan featured designs representative of Canada's past. In an open design contest called “Create a Centsation” over 33,000 designs were submitted for consideration. The 2000 plan featured designs representative of Canada's dreams for a new millennium. A second design contest was held and over 66,000 designs were submitted for consideration. April 1999 "Our Northern Heritage". Total mintage: 15,446,000

Canada's 25-cent circulation coin for April featured the work of the Inuit artist, Kenojuak Ashevak, of Cape Dorset in the Northwest Territories. Her design, called "Our Northern Heritage" was suggested for the contest by Emmanouil Kats, and is a tribute to contemporary Canadian Inuit art. The launch of this coin was part of the special celebrations to mark the creation of Nunavut on April 1st, 1999

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