Royal Canadian Mint launches rare Argyle Pink Diamond coin

Canada's mint shows off priceless new coins Giant 1 kilogram coin might be the Mint's rarest and most valuable ever created. CTV's Dave Charbonneau reports.

The Royal Canadian Mint is showing off four stunning coins worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, and you have the chance to purchase them.

The main attraction, a one kilogram coin simply called, The Ultimate. It’s pure platinum and covered with 462 of the world's rarest diamonds totalling 6.5 carats. The coin is designed to resemble a Cherry Blossom flower.

“There’s noting more rare than Argyle Pink Diamonds," says Itay Ariel of Crossworks Manufacturing,

"Cherry blossoms transcend every culture,” says Humara Rana, Director of Product Strategy for The Royal Canadian Mint. “And it’s about beauty. And it’s about art. So what better way to do this than to create a design that really gives you that feeling of art."

Along with The Ultimate, The Mint launched three other coins. They call it The Opulence Collection, and they are all for sale.

“The entire process, really in terms of ideation, figuring out what we want to do, about three years," says Rana.

Artist Simon Ng designed three of the four coins, which are now for sale.

The Treasure - 400 were minted and one sells for $12,999.95

The Grandeur - 30 were minted and one sells for $54,999.95

The Splendour - Only five of these coins were minted, if you want one they are $253,999.95 each.

“Always honoured to work with a part of Canadian history,” says Ng. “Especially for someone who immigrated to Canada and certainly call this country my home. I’m very honoured and very pleased.”

The Ultimate coin will be live auctioned on May 31 with an estimated value of roughly $800,000. Experts predict it will most likely go for millions.

“The mine closed last year,” says Ariel. “Argyle Pink Diamonds are the most coveted diamonds in the world, and so this was a way to celebrate the closure of the mine with this fantastic mintage."

This won't be the last time a rare coin is produced. The Mint says it plans on it doing this every year.

“This is one of the lines where we can showcase the true art and creativity and skills of Canada,” says Mint President and CEO, Marie Lemay. “We’ve always said our pieces of numismatic are art on metal. But this is a true expression of that.”

For collectors, it is a chance to own some of the rarest coins in existence.

“There’s no more pink diamonds in the world,” says Ariel. “That’s it. It’s done.”