The mint produced about five million of the toonies, amounting to about one for every eight Canadians.

"So if you had one, seven of your friends couldn't," Cutler said.

When the coin was due to be released in December, he contacted the mint and was told there were none left, so he scrambled to buy two boxes, or 1,000, of the toonies collectively worth $2,000 from a distributor.

Within a month and a half, 700 had sold for $12 apiece and his listing on Facebook Marketplace had racked up more than 10,000 views, far higher than the usual coins he sells which typically nab less than 100 views.

Most of Cutler's buyers weren't collectors or even royalists.

"They just wanted to have something from Queen Elizabeth from her death," he said.

Jared Stapleton's customers weren't collectors either, but people who saw the queen as a grandmother-like figure.

"People really love the queen," said the owner of the Metro Coin and Bank Note shop and director of the Toronto Coin Expo. "Whether they've met her or not, I think they can relate to her."

Stapleton snatched up $20,000 worth of the toonies and estimates he only has $4,000 of the coins left. He's sent them to buyers all over the globe, like Cutler who had customers as far as Paraguay, Bolivia, Mexico and the United States.

Most have been elated with the memento, but Cutler said many share that they're surprised the coins "don't look as black as they do on the mint pictures."