TORONTO - The man who created the design for Canada's loonie coin has died.

Artist Robert-Ralph Carmichael's image of a solitary loon was introduced in 1987, when Canada replaced its one dollar bill with a coin.

The Royal Canadian Mint says the loonie design has since appeared on more than one billion one-dollar coins.

Carmichael also produced designs for some of the mint's commemorative coins.

Carmichael died Saturday in a hospice in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

He was 78 years old.