New toonie celebrates 100th anniversary of insulin discovery

A composite of the coloured and uncoloured versions of the 2021 $2 circulation coin celebrating the 100th anniversary of the discovery of insulin is pictured in this handout. Image courtesy of the Royal Canadian Mint.

TORONTO — A new toonie will be making its way into your pocket soon with the Royal Canadian Mint’s new circulation coin commemorating the 100th anniversary of the discovery of insulin, the treatment for diabetes, a once-fatal disease.

The commemorative side of the $2 coin is designed by Jesse Koreck, an artist based in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont.. It features an image of a mortar and pestle, a vial, and an Erlenmeyer flask -- the lab tools used in the early formulation of insulin -- set against a maple leaf backdrop. Flowing to the left are red blood cells, glucose, and insulin molecules. The top of the coin is dominated by a ribbon-like swirl representing a monomer, a building block of the insulin molecule. The monomer is highlighted in blue in the coloured version of the coin, the same colour used to raise awareness for diabetes.

Three million of these $2 coins went into circulation earlier this week -- two million of the coloured version and one million of the uncoloured edition. The Mint is also selling various keepsake and collector sets, including a limited edition, $200 pure gold coin version of the same design that can be purchased for $3,999.95.

The life-saving discovery by Frederick Banting, Charles Best, James Collip and John Macleod is considered one of Canada’s greatest contributions to medicine and won Banting and Macleod the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1923. Earlier that same year, the group “sold” the patent to the University of Toronto for a token $1, to ensure the drug would be available and affordable to anyone who needed it. Today, more than 400 million people around the world live with diabetes, though the cost has become unaffordable for many patients in places like the United States.

"This commemorative circulation coin is a heartfelt and enduring "thank you" to the talented researchers behind a Canadian medical breakthrough that has saved millions of lives over the last 100 years, and continues to do so today,” said the Mint’s chief executive, Marie Lemay.