On January 2, 1908—the day that the Ottawa branch of the Royal Mint was itself freshly minted—Countess Alice Grey, wife of Canada's ninth Governor-General, Albert Henry George Grey, stepped forward and struck Canada's first domestically produced coin: a 1-cent coin. By 2012, more than 35 billion more would be produced.
Though the humble penny will one day disappear, its unique role in the history of Canadian coinage remains timeless.