10 Dollars - Elizabeth II Pope John Paul II

Issued the year John Paul II died — April 2005 — this coin was struck while the pontificate was still formally ongoing, making it one of the few Canadian commemoratives released in the same calendar year as the subject's death. The Royal Canadian Mint had been producing papal commemoratives since the late 1990s as part of its aggressive push into the collector bullion market, and this piece sits at the intersection of that commercial program and an unexpected historical moment. The .9999 fineness was a deliberate marketing distinction from standard .925 commemorative silver of the period.