- Country:Canada
- Collection:Silver Commemorative $100
- Metal:Silver
- Year:2018
- Denomination:$100
- Finish:Proof
- Weight (oz):10.016
- Purity:0.9999
- Mintage:750
- Product type:Coin
A moving tribute in 10 oz. pure silver to Canada's fallen combatants. Order today.
They are the fallen: the more than 66,000 from Canada and Newfoundland who gave their lives fighting for peace during the First World War. Strongly influenced by the era's one-cent circulation coin, this 10-ounce tribute piece honours their memory through a seldom-seen view of the Angel of Victory statue, which was erected in three Canadian cities as a memorial to those lost in the "war toend all wars."
A symbolic gift for those in the military or as tribute toloved ones lost at war. Order today.
Special features:
HISTORY IN HAND: A thought-provoking tribute to peace, and a memorial to Canada's fallen combatants of the First World War.
A CANADIAN MEMORIAL: Your large-sized coin (76 mm) features a seldom-seen view of any of the three Angel of Victory statues erected in Montreal, Winnipeg and Vancouver after the war.
FROM THEIR HANDS TO YOURS: Channeling the spirit of 1918, your coin was strongly influenced by the one-cent coin in circulation between 1858 and 1920. The maple leaf wreath is a contemporary take on the penny'smaple vine, while the inner and outer ring of dots were kept intact from the original design. It's an added homage to a coin that was quite possibly a token from home for many Canadians who served overseas!
ATTENTION TO DETAIL: Every design element has been painstakingly engraved in outstanding detail
EXQUISITE CRAFTSMANSHIP: While the mirror-like proof finish adds a luminous quality, multiple finishing techniques ensure every element of this complex design is made visible.
PRESTIGIOUS: Crafted from 10 oz. of 99.99% pure silver, your coin has a very low mintage of 750 worldwide and has no GST/HST.
A STANDOUT PIECE: A meticulously crafted piece with special significance and high appeal for military or history-themed collectors, or all who seek to honour and preserve the memory of those who never returned from the war.
INCLUDES SERIALIZED CERTIFICATE! The Royal Canadian Mint certifies all of its collector coins. Most of these are serialized certifications, meaning that each certificate is given a unique number, starting at 1.
Design:
To mark the 100th anniversary of the Armistice of Compi gne (November 11, 1918), your coin's image by Pandora Young brings together several design elements that are rooted in history. The design's focal point is a rarely seen overhead view of the Angel of Victory statue, one of three identical bronze memorials created by Montreal-based sculptor Coeur de Lion MacCarthy. Here, the statue is a powerful reminder of the human cost of the war, embodied by the fallen Canadian combatant held by an ascending angel, who also holds a laurel wreath in her left hand. The two figures overlap the frame, which was inspired by Canada's one-cent circulation coin at the time of the First World War (1914 -1918); a wreath of16 maple leaves represents a contemporary twist onthe maple vine design seen on all Canadian penniesbetween 1858 and 1920, while two rings of dots à one with 100 dots, the other with 140 à are kept intact from W.H.J. Blakemore's classic design.The reverse includes the word "CANADA", the double commemorative dates "1918 à 2018" and the face value "100 DOLLARS". The obverse features the effigy of King George V by Sir E. B. MacKennal.
The Cost of War
Coming into effect "on the eleventhhour of the eleventh day of the eleven month," the Armistice signalled the long-awaited endto the hostilities. But in the weeks, months, even years that followed, Canada and Newfoundland's jubilant return to peace, and the nation's pride in its emerging identity on the world stage, were tempered by a strong desire for remembrance for all that was sacrificed, for all who were lost.
Of the 619,636 Canadians who served with the CanadianExpeditionary Force, one in 10 never returned. Over172,000 were wounded, including 9,000 who sufferedfrom "shell shock" - a newly coined term for the psychological anguish caused by this industrialized "Great War for Civilisation." A Dominion of the British Empire and not yet a part of Canada, Newfoundland had also contributed 12,000 of its own to the effort, and grieved the loss of many of these gallant souls.
Canadians and Newfoundlanders did not want to forget the human cost of such a devastating war. In communities across the country, as well as in Europe, plaques, statues and monuments were erected for the purpose of public remembrance; even today, they are lasting memorials to those lost in the "war to end allwars," which, just 20 years later, provedto be a tragic misnomer.
Did you knowÃ
The Angel of Victory depicted on your coin is any one of three identical statues erected in Montreal, Winnipeg and Vancouver. All three are the work of Montreal-based sculptor Coeur de Lion MacCarthy, who was commissioned by Canadian Pacific Railroad (CPR) to create amemorial honouring 1,115 railway employees who diedin the war.
In the early morning hours of November 11, 1918, British, French and German representatives signed the Armistice in the private railcar of French Marshal Ferdinand Jean Marie Foch. The railway carriage was preserved in a museum until June 1940, when it was deliberately returned to the site of the Armistice for the signing of another armistice: one in which an occupied France was forced to surrender to Germany.
As news of the ceasefire spread to cities around the world, people took to the streets to celebrate. But the fighting continued along the Western Front until the Armistice came into effect at 11 a.m. Near Mons, Belgium, a Canadian soldier was fatally shot mere minutes before the Armistice was in place, thus becoming the last Commonwealth soldier killed in thewar.
The Armistice is often referred to as the end of the First World War, but that's not accurate: it was a formal agreement to end the hostilities, or a ceasefire. The war formally ended on June 28,1919 with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.
From 1919 to 1930, Armistice Day and Thanksgiving were celebrated on the same day: the Monday of the week inwhich November 11 fell. In 1931, a bill was passed in the House of Commons to give Armistice Day a fixed date (November 11) and greater recognition; Thanksgiving was moved to October, and Armistice Day became Remembrance Day, to honour the memory of fallen combatants.
