Royal Canadian Mint RCM On January 2, 1908, Governor General Earl Grey activated the press to strike the Dominion's first domestically produced coin, a fifty-cent piece. As an audience of dignitaries looked on, the Countess Grey closed the ceremony by striking Canada's first bronze cent. The Ottawa branch of Britain's Royal Mint was officially open for business. In 1931, the heritage building on Sussex Drive, the surrounding land and the entire minting enterprise passed into Canadian hands, making the Mint a wholly Canadian institution. Now all Canadian silver bar was made possible by the Royal Canadian Mint’s new Silver refinery, which opened in 2006. Silver bars are made with state-of-the-art machines that are efficient, compact and controlled almost entirely by computer so that there is zero waste. A new refinery facility, designed to meet any possible demand for many years to come, was built in 1936 to refine gold for mines and central banks throughout the world. Still in operation today, the refinery has produced 9999 fine gold bars since 1969. In 1982, it became the world's first refinery to produce 9999 fine gold bullion coins. Then in 1999, the Mint excelled again by being the first to achieve 99999 fine gold purity. Designed to meet customer demand for smaller sized bars, it features a unique bullion finish, as well as an individualized serial number and reeded edges. Each bar is composed of .9999 fine silver. The obverse features the RCM logo, as well as the bar’s weight, composition and serial number. ROYAL CANADIAN MINT is engraved in both French and English, and the Mint’s logo is displayed in a diagonal pattern on the reverse.