OTTAWA (AFP) - The Royal Canadian Mint will soon unveil a gold coin worth one million Canadian dollars (850,000 US dollars), an official told AFP.

But the valuable loonie, a sobriquet given to Canadian one-dollar coins, will not go into circulation, said mint spokeswoman Pam Aung Thin.

"It's a new denomination for us," she said. "However, I doubt you'll find it in someone's change purse or ever used in a parking meter."

Rather, the "very large coin" will be sold to collectors and niche investors, she said.

The mint plans to introduce the coin in April. "Not a lot" will be minted, Aung Thin said.

Like all Canadian coins, it will feature on one side a likeness of Britain's
Queen Elizabeth II, also Canada's head of state, she said, refusing to reveal any other design details.

The editor of Canadian Coin News, Bret Evans, told public broadcaster CBC it would be the first of its kind in the world, breaking a record for value.

"The coin becomes an event," Evans said. "It's purely being done to get attention, to throw something on the market, to make a statement, which is: 'Here we are.'"

However, the last time such a special coin was minted, in Austria, all 15 -- worth 100,000 euro (130,000 US) each -- sold out in less than a month, he added.