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 Replies: 13 / Views: 2,534 |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2845 Posts |
Discussion regarding Canada's upcoming 150th anniversary jogged my memory something about the selection of Canadian Cenntenial coins not merely being wildlife, but that each was chosen to symbolize the essence of our country. I faintly recall at the time my Dad attempting to explain the interpretations to me. So I though folks with bad memories such as I and also younger people might be interested in the respective meanings. I finally found the reference in Striking Impressions by James Haxby. The artist was Alex Colville, a New Brunswick artist and sculptor.
One Cent: Rock Dove - Associated with spiritual values and peace.
Five Cents: Rabbit - Associated with fertility, new life and promise.
Ten Cents: Mackerel - Associated with continuity
Twenty-five Cents: Prowling bobcat - Expresses intelligent independence and decisive action.
Fifty Cents: Howling wolf - Symbolic of the vastness and loneliness of Canada.
Silver Dollar: Canada goose - Chosen for its serene dynamic quality.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
4227 Posts |
The '67 coins are what got me really interested in collecting coins as a kid. I know there's a book with an interview by Colville where he discusses everything with the process of these coins, but I haven't found a copy yet. Quote:
Alex Colville, a New Brunswick artist and sculptor. Colville was born in Ontario, raised in Nova Scotia until going to university (and teaching for a time) in Sackville, NB (just across the border from where he was raised). He settled with his wife in NS until he died. I'm not aware of him being a sculptor though. In the early '90s I wrote him asking for an interview - I received this signed 3x5 card in the mail, stating he didn't want to do an interview - I get the feeling he wasn't keen on talking about the coin design process and he was very much an introvert.  |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
4227 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
2845 Posts |
Wow, what a keepsake that note is! I suppose a lot of artists are very much introverts as what they have to communicate mainly flows out through their hands.
The reference to "sculptor" was also from Haxby. That's an excellent site you've linked. I think the 1967 series was incredibly well done and hopefully interest in it will increase in and around 2017 because it's both intriguing and very unique.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
4227 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2845 Posts |
Quote: The blog post I wrote after he died in 2013 (apparently it was in '95 that I wrote him). http://harbouredhere.blogspot.ca/20...d-doves.html An incredibly thoughtful tribute...... RCM shoukd consider a series commemorating the faces behind Canada's most memorable coin designs of the past, would be far more appropriate and meaningful than that of fantasy/cartoon characters. |
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Moderator
 Canada
10456 Posts |
I met Alex once, and even shook his hand in the early 1990s... It was during an alumni event back at Mount Allison University (I did my undergraduate degree in geology there).
"Discovery follows discovery, each both raising and answering questions, each ending a long search, and each providing the new instruments for a new search." -- J. Robert OppenheimerContent of this post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses...0/deed.en_USMy eBay store
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
867 Posts |
Cool stories. The 1967 series is an example of the very high standards and appeal Canadian coins possess.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1051 Posts |
The 1967 set across all denominations is one that will never be bettered, IMO. Not only are the coins beautiful, but they were struck in copper, nickel, and silver...not a clad coin in the bunch. A great deal of collectors got interested in the hobby directly as a result of the centennial coins.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
997 Posts |
The 1967 series was a masterpiece.
As a young child in the States at the time I remember my parents being excited about them and arranging for friends in Toronto to send us samples. In later years I remember searching for them in change. At the time Canadian coins were common in circulation in the Chicago area and I found a few cents, a couple nickels and a quarter. I never did find a 67 10-cent in circulation for whatever reason, probably pulled for silver by the time I figured it out.
I wholeheartedly believe that the 1967 Canadian coinage was the direct impetus for the 1975/1976 US Bicentennial coins. Another example of "If it works north it might work south".
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1118 Posts |
Heading home from Cape Breton University I met a girl on the bus. She hopped on at the Mount Allison University stop and we struck up a conversation. She was studying fine art there and she told me all about Alex Colville and how much she loved his work. I happened to find a rabbit nickel in my change a few days before hand and showed it to her.
Sorry that this story doesn't have a point, I just remembered it.
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Moderator
Canada
10456 Posts |
I remember taking that same route... except back then, I rode the train from Orangedale, Cape Breton, to Sackville, New Brunswick...
"Discovery follows discovery, each both raising and answering questions, each ending a long search, and each providing the new instruments for a new search." -- J. Robert OppenheimerContent of this post is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses...0/deed.en_USMy eBay store
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
849 Posts |
I wish they would have used those same images for the 150th anniversary. Maybe they could do it for a special non circulating presentation. I'd lso like to see the Voyageur image in some form. I could have seen an open contest for a few quarters in 2017 but I really think the mint missed the mark not going with something more historic.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
3690 Posts |
Would definitely buy an RCM coin if they used the Colville mural from Tweedie Hall as inspiration.   Go Mounties! |
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Replies: 13 / Views: 2,534 |
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Posted 09/07/2015 6:25 pm
