- Country:Canada
- Collection:Gold Commemorative $200
- Metal:Gold
- Year:2015
- Denomination:$200
- Finish:Complete
- Weight (oz):0.5
- Purity:0.9999
- Mintage:815
- Product type:Coin
Fourth coin in our popular Great Canadian Explorers series!
Famous for his exploration of Hudson Bay and for his mysterious disappearance following the mutiny of his crew, Henry Hudson ranks among the most esteemed and intriguing European explorers of the land now known as Canada. Hudson is the subject of the fourth release in the Royal Canadian Mint's popular Great Canadian Explorers series.
Own an original work of art depicting one of Canada's most renowned and compelling historical figures.Order your coin today!
Special features:
¥ 99.99% pure gold
¥ Very limited mintage-only 2,000 worldwide
¥ The Royal Canadian Mint commemorates more than 400 years of Canadian exploration with its popular Great Canadian Explorers series.
¥ The fourth coin in this unique series depicts famed explorer Henry Hudson, whonavigated and charted both Hudson Strait and Hudson Bay in 1610.
¥ Celebrate an important moment in the exploration of the land that would one day become Canada.
¥ A stunning gift or thoughtful introduction to collecting for history buffs, fans of geography, and Canadian heritage enthusiasts.
¥ GST/HST exempt.
Design:
Your coin depicts Henry Hudson on his final Arctic voyage. The image centres on a full-length portrait of Hudson, viewed from the right and gazing to the right side of the coin through a spyglass. Hudson wears a heavy coat trimmed in fur, a fur hat, and long leather boots. On the right side of the image is a stylized map of Hudson Bay, and Hudson's spyglass points directly to the centre of the Bay. Below the map, Hudson's ship, Discovery, rests at anchor in the Bay.A party of crewmen row toward land in a small rowboat. On the left side of the image is an Elizabethan-era directional wind rose.
About Henry Hudson:
Henry Hudson is nearly as well known for mystery as he is for exploration. Very little is known about his early life before he entered the public record in 1607. He is believed to have been born in England some time between 1560 and 1570, possibly to a well-off family. He was probably well educated and began his seafaring career early in life.
Hudson's public life flourished beginning around the age of 40, at which point he was already renowned for his navigational skills. His major explorations in 1607, 1608, and 1609 sought an eastward passage from Europe to China across the Arctic Circle, but in each case he found the frozen Arctic waters impassable.
¥ On the third voyage, for the Dutch East India Company in 1609, he rerouted the expedition westward to North America. Armed with knowledge gleaned from contemporary and earlier explorations of the region, he set out to find the famed and elusive Northwest Passage.
¥ It was on this 1609 journey that Hudson ended up on the river that, in modern-dayNew York State, now bears his name. Though the river itself had been noted by Verrazzano nearly a century earlier, it was Hudson who explored it in detail.
¥ Hudson also identified Manhattan Island as an exceptional location for agriculture. Within
20 years, the Dutch would settle here and call it New Amsterdam. It would eventually become New York City.
In 1610, the British East India Company and the Virginia Company sent him to further explore the continental inlets near Iceland and Greenland. It was with great excitement that Hudson and his crew came tothe strait now known as Hudson Strait, just west ofthe southern tip of Greenland. Though the strait itself had already been noted by Martin Frobisher, among others, Hudson's exceptional drive and courage led him to become the first to navigate its full, treacherous length. After six weeks, they entered the inland sea known today as the Hudson Bay.
Convinced at first that he had reached the Pacific, Hudson pushed on despite his men's fatigue and the need to restock food supplies on the game-abundant shores. After lengthy exploration of the region, Hudson and his crew concluded that they had not reached the Pacific after all. By this time, however, their ship became ice-bound and they were forced to spend a cold, desolate winter ashore.
As the waters opened up in the spring of 1611, Hudson tried to rally his crew to continue to press westward, but they mutinied. The precise nature of the mutiny remainsuncertain to this day. The sole first-hand accountby one of the mutineers asserts that Hudson, his son, and six crew members were abandoned in a small open boat with food, clothing, and supplies. However, the men blamed for the mutiny in this account diedon the return journey to England, so the story wasnever corroborated. Though all of the mutineers were temporarily jailed and tried for murder, the charges were eventually dropped because no murder couldbe proven to have taken place. Many believe they were also spared because of their valuable navigational knowledge of the Arctic. Hudson and the other castaways were never seen again.
The depth of geographical knowledge Hudson added to the European canon has positioned him among the great explorers of the age. Within a half century, England would go on to establish the Hudson's Bay Company. Hudson's discoveries provided the Company's point of access into the North American interior, which had amajor impact on the course of European-and Canadian-history.
