You may know it as a dry-but-venerable Crown corporation, protector of the nation’s legal tender and standard bearer for our most ubiquitous symbols of state. Now the Royal Canadian Mint is getting into the decidedly more exciting business of high fashion, launching a line of tony adornments by some of Canada’s most successful jewelry designers.

If some companies have taken the risk of extending their established brand names in areas unrelated to their core business (see ‘Royal Doulton scents profits in perfume,’ Strategy, March 2, 1998), the Mint is doing what comes naturally – using coins as the basis for its jewelry line.

Diane Plouffe Reardon, the Mint’s executive director of communications, says that jewelry really goes hand-in-glove with the Mint’s other product lines.

‘We’re positioning the jewelry as a value – the coin, the craftsmanship, the artistry and then you turn it into wearable art – you’re buying value.

‘That’s very much in keeping with our market research and how Canadian consumers purchase. They will buy something that has value. It has intrinsic value, the value of craftsmanship and the value of the story behind it all, which makes it very Canadian.

Coins have always had an appeal for jewelry collectors, she says, and coin jewelry is a natural evolution for an organization whose products are rendered in precious metals like gold, platinum and silver. It’s a transition other mints have already made.

In the future, she says the Mint may go more mainstream with a less-expensive fashion line, but it has to be done in a way that doesn’t alienate its core market of investors and collectors. The price range of the current collection is about $300 to $2,000.

However its jewelry business evolves, Plouffe says the Royal Canadian Mint wants to ensure that it maintains its global reputation for quality and craftsmanship, attributed in part to its Gold Maple Leaf investment coin, which has been offered and traded on the world market since 1979.

This bullion coin is minted in 99.99% pure gold, higher than the worldwide pure-gold standard of 99.95%, in increments from one-twentieth to one troy ounce sizes.

Plouffe says the Crown corporation is tapping into a well of pent-up demand for Mint-branded jewelry among Canadian collectors and investors – especially in the Asian community.

The new coin jewelry is available now, not only from the Mint, but also through more than 100 jewelry stores across the country. A catalogue has been created and an official launch is planned for late spring, likely comprising direct mail, print advertising, in-store material and public relations activities from the Mint’s agency, Cossette Communication-Marketing.

Featured products include:

– The Gold Maple Leaf bullion coin, an investment coin of 24-karat, 99.99% pure gold, bezel set (in a rim holding the coin in the setting) in 18-karat gold as earrings, a key chain, cuff links, a ring, a pendant or a bracelet;

– The Haida collection, which uses a 22-karat gold coin based on a native design from the Canadian Museum of Civilization;

– The Caboto collection, featuring the sterling silver coin minted to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Giovanni Caboto’s (John Cabot) voyage from Bristol, England to Canada’s East Coast; and

– Watches, including one with a face made from a 10th anniversary limited-edition Loonie.