The Royal Canadian Mint struck multiple coins in honor of World War I and World War II anniversaries - the programs began in 2014 and continued into 2020. In 2014, the Mint's releases included a Limited Edition (LE) Silver Dollar (SD) that marked the 75th Anniversary of Canada's Declaration of War against Germany on September 10, 1939 (one week after the United Kingdom did the same).
In addition to supplying troops to the war effort, Canada was also engaged in the production/manufacturing of war materiel, often with women being part of the workforce. Such was the story told by the 2014 LE Silver Dollar.
The coin's somewhat stylized commemorative reverse presents three women working on the inside of a Canadian-built Avro 683 Lancaster X, a well-known and successful heavy bomber used by the air forces of Great Britain and Canada in World War II. The woman at the center of the scene reaches overhead with a wrench to work on something on the ceiling of the fuselage. Two other female workers are seen in front of the central woman, and are using riveting guns to secure side elements of the fuselage. All are depicted wearing work clothes and a bandana - typical attire for female factory workers of the period. Canadian production of the Avro Lancaster began in 1942, with the first plane being delivered in 1943; the planes were built by Victory Aircraft Limited, a Crown Corporation setup in Malton, Ontario specifically to build the Canadian Lancasters. Of note, approximately 25% of the workers who built the Lancasters were women.
The Avro 683 Lancaster X was a four-engine bomber that typically was crewed by a pilot, a navigator, a flight engineer, a radio operator, a bomb aimer and two gunners - seven crew members in total. The plane had a range of ~1,000 miles, could carry a standard payload of ~18,000 pounds and, with modifications made to its bomb-bay, could extend to carry 12.000 pound and 22,000 pound bombs. It was a workhorse among bombers and saw heavy use by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).
Here's a link to an informative discussion of the Canadian Lancaster, including multiple images:
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The Canadian LancastersThe coin's design is the work of Silvia Pecota, a Canadian artist, sculptor and photographer. In 2003, she was selected to be a member of the Canadian Forces Artist Program. As a Program participant, she photographed Canadian soldiers doing their jobs/executing their missions in Canada, Afghanistan and Haiti. Her experiences have led her to a focus on Canada's soldiers in her artwork. (You can learn more about her at her web site:
https://www.silviapecotastudio.com/The SD's obverse depicts the right-facing Queen Elizabeth II portrait by Susanna Blunt (engraved by Susan Taylor).
The coin was struck on a 0.999 fine silver planchet. It has a diameter of 36.07 millimeters and a weight of 23.17 grams. The edge of the coin is reeded/serrated.
The Mint set a mintage limit of 7,500 for the SD; per the Mint's 2014
Annual Report, total unit sales were 6,396; just over 700 additional coins were sold in early 2015 which brought the total up to 7,017 coins sold - 93.6% of the maximum available. The coin's Issue Price was $69.95 CAD.
The SD was a
Coin of the Year nominee in the
Most Inspirational Coin category, but was not the category winner - Poland won for its 10 Zlotych silver coin which commemorates the birth of Jan Karski. Jan smuggled information about the Holocaust during World War II to the Allies.
2014 World War II Declaration of World War II 75th Anniversary - Reverse
For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including more Canadian commemorative coin and medal stories, see:
Commems Collection.
Posted 12/08/2022 11:15 am
