Welcome back to Beaverworks Mint. It has taken over 18000 hours for us to build our own mint from scratch. With the help of financial backers and some truly outstanding people, we have at long last finished our studio production space, purchased and set up a brand new calibrated coining press and minting system. We are located in Western Canada, based outside of Edmonton, Alberta in an undisclosed location and aim to offer world class minting services and fine silver and gold bullion round coins dedicated to the Royal Canadian Air Force.

We are in the final stages of this very complex and costly start up cycle and we will resume fabrication and shipment of our silver and gold issues shortly. If you have any need for custom, world class minting, please feel free to contact us by email.

Listed below is our catalogue of works, and we will be adding to our body of work significantly in 2024.

Beaverworks Mint produces, world class, fine bullion round medallion coins comprised of precious metals with a purity of 99.99% sourced from the Royal Canadian Mint refineries. We have nearly all the tooling located under a single roof to take a concept design and turn it into a true work of art. Beaverworks Mint is lead by Canadian Artist Joseph Green B.FA and has spent in excess of 18000 hours over the last 5 years that it has taken to acquire all the expertise, tooling and facilities neccessary in order to bypass any reliance upon any other group in order to mint fine works of art in the medium of precious metals. Recently, Beaverworks was recognised by the Royal Canadian Air Force with the first prototype coin of our forthcoming issue of the RCAF Silver Maple, by having serial number 1 presented to the Commanding General of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Lieutenant General Eric Kenny at an event hosted in Calgary. We are in the final stages of coating our hardened steel coining dies to ensure a proof-quality finish with this issue. Once we are “Good to Go”, then nearly every aspect of this coin, will be fabricated in our studios located outside of Edmonton at our facilities.

Green is well known Canadian Artist and Designer. He holds a B.FA from one of the worlds elite design schools: Emily Carr University. Green’s focus is in 3D Computer Modeling/Animation/Visual Effects and Fine Arts Painting. He has paintings hanging across Canada ranging from the House of Commons in Ottawa, the Canadian Space Agency HQ in St. Hubert, Quebec, various military bases and with collectors across Canada and the world. Green is well known within the Canadian Forces community. He was presented with a signed flag of the Third Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry Battle Group which flew over our base in Kandahar, Afghanistan for work honouring our fallen. Green made available to the Canadian Space Agency that flag where it went up on STS-115/12A with Canadian Astronaut Dr. Steve MacLean and flew 187 times around the world traveling 7.84 million km over 11 days, 19 hours, 6 minutes, 35 seconds. That flag escorted the souls of our fallen home to the heavens now resides at Edmonton Garrison at Third Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry Regimental Head Quarters. 

Green’s role at Beaverworks is in one of leadership in every single aspect of minting. This initiative to honour the history and legacy of the RCAF aims to  establish the Beaverworks Mint as an elite brand dedicated and committed to honouring Canada and those who serve. Green has financed everything himself and is fully committed to designing, producing and delivering precedent setting, world class quality. He is our technical expert within Beaverworks and enjoys all aspects of design, 3D sculpting, engraving to wrapping the finished product in a thoughtfully designed package. When we require the elite touch in our sculpts, we work with Master Sculptor William Woodruff. 

Practicing and mastering his craft since 1975, Mr. Woodruff began his career engraving radio plates and dials at CFS Leitrim which led him to spend 9 years at one of Ottawa’s premier engraving companies, Pritchard Andrews Co of Ottawa. Following that, Mr. Woodruff joined the Royal Canadian Mint and assisted in preparations for the 19786 Summer Olympics hosted in Montreal. Holds the distinction of being the last apprentice engraver to receive a certificate from the Ministry of Trades from the Province of Ontario. Promoted to Senior Engraver with the Royal Canadian Mint in 2000, Woodruff was an active participant and leader on various committees leading to the Royal Canadian Mint ascent to today’s renowned status. In 2014, Woodruff retired from the engraving industry after nearly 40 years of service.

Versatile in all areas of the most advanced 2D and 3D sculpting and engraving software, his high performance and results oriented personalities fits well with Beaverworks and our start up. He likes our vision and he wants to remain active on a part time basis. Given how fast he works, his precision and depth of knowledge,  it is our honour and distinct privilege to have him on board as our Senior Engraver

NOTED DESIGNS

1996 Coin of the Year Award Münzen Magazine Best Coin100 Dollar 14-karat gold coin: Klondike

2010 350 Dollars, Prairie Crocus. Krause Publications Best Gold Coin

2011 $20 for $20 Canoe, Best Silver Coin Silver Krause Publications

2011 $ 15 Silver, Vignette of Prince Charles

2012 25th Anniversary Loon Dollar

2012 Canadian “Lucky Loonie

Woodruff originally contacted us complimenting the design of our Arrow coin which Green designed. We knew at that point, if a retired Senior Engraver from the Royal Canadian Mint was complimenting us on our work, it underscored how persistence and hard work pays off. It was at that point that our Chief Designer was overwhelmed with sheer humility knowing that our work was being examined by a true engraving master, but it served to impress someone with the stature of William Woodruff. As a start up, it goes without saying that we are truly committed to customer satisfaction. All we have is our reputation, legacy of work and our dream to honour the Canadian Armed Forces. We cannot afford to have at any point, any weakness in the quality of our product nor reputation of honour. When Mr. Woodruff inquired about becoming involved as a way to stay in practice and help build out a vision like our, to know that we could absolutely trust his technical and artistic capabilities, but his character to help us grow, truly meant the world to Green. With Mr. Woodruff coming on board, it means we have on board one of the Worlds Premier Master Engravers who just happens to like our vision and character. We look forward to working with him for many years and issues to come.

-Vicki Torrie was a lovely friend and invaluable part of the Beaverworks team. Without her help, we would not have been able to make it this far. She will be sorely missed. Rest in Peace Vicky and thank you for your service to the Royal Canadian Legion and your work with Canadian Veterans.

So, you want to make a coin, but you have no idea where or how to begin. First, clear your mind and understand what it is you are contending with. It is not just a coin, it is an anchor in time, passed down for potentially thousands of years. The goal of Beaverworks is to focus on mastering the extreme high end of minting. It’s not just metal, but consideration must be paid when you examine it from the artistic perspective. Other mints in our experience pay absolutely no attention to this critical aspect. What is it you wish to commemorate? Why? What is the meaning behind it? When we design a coin, we are trained to literally drill down to the cubic micron and ask these questions? What is the purpose of this, that, what about this element? Every single aspect should be considered, especially within its symbolism, meaning, significance and more.

See the maple leaves, squares and tiny dots around the circumference of the coin? In this design, there are 201 tiny dots symbolising AVRO Arrow RL-201, our first coin issue. There are 100 squares and maple leaves around the perimeter symbolising 100 years since the formation of the Royal Canadian Air Force. The Maple Leaves because they are situated around the exterior rim, act as a platform which the entire coin rests upon, symbolising average Canadians hoisting up and holding true to the commitment of always supporting those who serve and holding true to the poem In Flanders Fields by LCol McRae, where the torch is ours to hold high. Can you answer questions about the design of  your coin and the symbolic representation? Every single aspect must be thoughtfully considered, because your work, your legacy is worth this. We originally engraved dies with the outer ring of 100 tiny Maple Leaves, but after a number of strikes, the method we used resulted in tiny amounts of silver breaking of and remaining in the dies and we decided that subsequent engravings would omit this feature for now until we can ensure we can adequately transfer the design without any issues.