- Country:Canada
- Collection:Gold Commemorative 50cents
- Metal:Gold
- Year:2010
- Denomination:50 Cents
- Finish:Proof
- Weight (oz):0.041
- Purity:0.9999
- Mintage:9594
- Product type:Coin
1/25-Oz Gold Coin à RCMP (2010)
A famous Canadian icon.
Highlights:
With its delicate size, this exquisitely-crafted coinis an object of pureintrigue, its collectability heightened by its pure goldcompositionand reduced mintage. This coin is astunning exampleof the remarkabledetail a skilled handcan capture within asmall surface.
Coin design:
An RCMP officer astride his horse, both in a posture of pride.
The theme:
Canada's national police force was originally known asthe North-West Mounted Police. They were foundedin 1873, and after a period of training, two hundredand seventy-five police officers were dispatched topatrol the western frontier.
Their objective: to establish law and order, suppressthe whiskey trade, bring unruly desperados to justiceand establish positive relations with the First Nationspeople of the area-quite a challenge consideringthere were no facilities when they arrived.
The men were entirely on their own. Communicationwith the East involved a 322 km (200 mi) ride toMontana (USA). The men set about building a hospital,shelter for the horses, followed by sleeping quarters forthe men and officers. With the help of local settlers andnative groups, they were able to gather enough suppliesto see them through the winter.
Recruits were required to know how to ride, butlittle attention was given to the finer points ofmilitary riding. Formal cavalry drills began in 1885as the force was approaching 1,000 men. Fifty yearslater, the wife of one of the original British CavalrySergeant who trained the men remarked how themanoeuvres at the 1935 Exhibition and Stampedewere identical to the original drills-a grand displayof horsemanship set to music that continues todelight audiences the world over as the Musical Ride.
In 1920, the Force became known as the RoyalCanadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Today, it isa world-renowned organization with more than28,000 members. The spirit and history of the RCMPis woven into the history of the prairies. The cities ofCalgary (Alberta) and Regina (Saskatchewan) bothoriginated as NWMP posts-and the buffalo on theRCMP crest recalls the untamed frontier that greetedits first recruits over a century ago.
