CN Tower featured on new $2 coin marking 50th anniversary

By Ian MacKay

The CN Tower in Toronto appears on a $2 coin that went into circulation last week.

“Canada's engineering excellence reached new heights with the building of the CN Tower, establishing it as a defining symbol of national ingenuity and technical achievement,” a Royal Canadian Mint statement said. The coin commemorates the tower’s 50th anniversary.

Two million of the three million coins being struck will have colour and glow in the dark, the statement said.

“For half a century, the CN Tower has stood as a world-renowned landmark, instantly recognizable across the globe as a symbol of Canada's ambition and innovation,” François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s minister of finance and national revenue, said in the statement. “More than an engineering marvel, it has become part of who we are, welcoming millions of visitors over the years.”

“In the 1960s, downtown Toronto's rapidly rising skyline created major challenges for radio and TV transmission,” the statement said. “To solve them, a dedicated group of Canadian engineers and visionaries developed the CN Tower. In just two years, more than 1,500 workers, rotating through 24-hour shifts, completed the concrete structure and topped it with a massive steel mast, bringing its height to 553.33 metres.”

Designed by illustrator Carl Wiens of Belleville, Ont., the back of the coin has an inner core with the tower rising above Lake Ontario and the current Toronto skyline, contrasted with a 1976 outline below.

“When activated, the coin's glow-in-the-dark technology reveals the CN Tower and skyline illuminated at night,” the statement said. “Additional silhouettes on the outer ring highlight five decades of architectural growth, from the 1976 skyline on the left to Toronto's 2026 cityscape on the right.”