Yvon Gariepy

Another change that was brought about under Gariepy’s leadership was the change of the Prestige Set, a Double Dollar Set that featured a nickel dollar and a silver dollar, to a proof set. The coins were of a specimen finish (brilliant relief on a brilliant background). Under Gariepy, the Prestige Set would be changed to a Proof status. The new Proof Set was introduced in March 1981 with an issue price of $36.00 and all the coins had a frosted relief against a mirror background.

On November 30, 1981, Gariepy resigned as Master of the Mint to take a position as President with Canada Post.

In 1976, Gariepy’s role as Master of the Mint started to take shape. He officially opened a new RCM facility capable of producing 700 million coins per year per worker shift in Winnipeg in April. The 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal resulted in a coin program that generated approximately $200 million in gross sales and $50 million in net profit, and the mint produced 8.4 million troy ounces of silver coins, the highest silver consumption for coins in the world.

On June 6, 1975, Gariépy was appointed to the position. He officially took over the position from Gordon Hunter the next week and reported to the Finance Minister, John Turner. Turner became Prime Minister of Canada in 1984. At the 1975 Royal Canadian Numismatic Association Annual Convention, he announced the launching of two Olympic gold coins. Gariepy was a coin collector himself.

Yvon Gariepy (born July 13, 1926 in Montreal, Quebec) was the President of the Royal Canadian Mint from 1975 to 1981. In later years, he worked for Canada Post. Mr. Gariepy was a professional member of the Order of Engineers of Quebec, Professional Corporation of Urbanists of Quebec, Canadian Institute of Planners and the Institute of the Public Administration of Canada.