Starbucks Ontario mug: Discovery Series
The Ontario mug from Starbucks' Discovery Series sets the province name in yellow-green over a dark green circle, with a hockey goalie, a fish, a loon, a waterfall, a cabin and a canoe.
- Series
- Discovery Series
- Place
- Ontario, Canada
- Type
- Mug
- Released
- Not confirmed
- Capacity
- 14 fl ozstandard mug size
- SKU
- Not confirmed
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The $43.50 courier that cost Canada its voyageur dollar
On the morning of 3 November 1986, a courier picked up two freshly engraved steel dies at the Royal Canadian Mint in Ottawa. They were bound for Winnipeg, where Canada's new one-dollar coin was to be struck with a voyageur in a canoe. The mint had chosen a local letter courier over an armoured service to save $43.50 [1]. Eleven days later the dies had still not arrived, and mint officials called in the Mounties [1]. The RCMP held that the dies were lost in transit. The mint believed they were stolen. They were never recovered [2]. Worried about counterfeits, the mint dropped the voyageur and picked a loon drawn by Robert-Ralph Carmichael of Echo Bay, Ontario, and the coin went out on 30 June 1987 [3]. Carmichael later told the Sault Star it was the first design the mint had accepted in ten years of trying [1]. In 1992 his hometown erected a giant loonie [3]. The loon at the base of the Ontario mug (4) floats the way his did.
The mug does not label its drawings, so connecting this one to the story is our reading.
What's on the mug
- 1Lettering
ONTARIO in yellow-green capitals over a dark green circle.
- 2Hockey goalie
A hockey goalie in a green mask and pads crouches in front of a net at the upper left.
- 3Fish
A fish with a spotted back arches across the top of the circle.
- 4Loon
A loon with a purple head floats at the base of the circle.
- 5Waterfall and trees
A waterfall among yellow-green trees sits at the right of the circle.
- 6Cabin and canoe
A cabin and a canoe on a lake sit at the lower left.
- 7Paper cups
Two yellow-green cups sit at the upper right.
The photo shows one side of the mug. The back and the area behind the handle are out of view.
Collector notes
- The inside rim is lime green, which shows at the top of the photo.
- Canada, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta also have Discovery mugs on our checklists; this one is lettered ONTARIO.
Before you buy
The photo shows one side of the mug, so the back and the area behind the handle are out of view. The inside rim is lime green. Starbucks also made an Ontario mug in the Been There series, so check the series named in the listing before you order.
