50 Cents - Elizabeth II 4th portrait with RCM logo

The RCM logotype added to the obverse during this period was part of a broader authentication and branding initiative the Mint undertook in the early 2000s, partly in response to counterfeiting concerns affecting Canadian circulation coinage. The 50-cent piece had already become something of an oddity by 2006 — technically legal tender, still being struck, but almost never appearing in everyday commerce. Canadians simply stopped using them, and the Mint's own distribution data reflected this.

Most examples from the later years of this run were sold directly in sets rather than released for circulation.