- Country:Canada
- Collection:Silver Commemorative $100
- Metal:Silver
- Year:2018
- Denomination:$100
- Finish:Proof
- Weight (oz):10.015
- Purity:0.9999
- Mintage:750
- Product type:Coin
STUNNING! 1951 portrait by Yousuf Karsh of Princess Elizabeth on a 10 oz. pure silver coin! Order today!
It is the image of grace, dignity, and poise. Taken at Clarence House in London, the 1951 portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (then Princess Elizabeth) by Armenian-Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002) shows a youthful princess on the eve of a royal visit to Canada and on the cusp of history, for she would succeed to the throne less than seven months later. As a special tribute, your 10 oz. coin is the largest portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to ever appear on one of our coins. Karsh's original photograph is expertly reproduced in exquisite detail on the engraved reverse, where multiple finishes mimic the interplay between light and shadow that is synonymous with portraits by "Karsh of Ottawa," who is widely acclaimed as one of the greatest portrait photographers of the 20th century.
Add this gorgeous 10 oz. pure silver Portrait of a Princess coin to your monarchy collection today!
Special features:
A VERY SPECIAL TRIBUTE! Your coin is a very special tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, depicted here as a young princess just a few months before the 1951 Royal Visit to Canada, and less than seven months before her accessionto the throne.
A CANADIAN CONNECTION! Your coin's design inspired by the iconic portraits of world-renowned Armenian-Canadianphotographer Yousuf Karsh, a 20th-century master ofportraiture who was also known as "Karsh of Ottawa."
LARGEST PORTRAIT YET! The size of your 10 oz. coin (76.25 mm) makesthis the largest portrait of Her Majesty ever featured on a coin struck by the Royal Canadian Mint.
EXQUISITE AND HIGHLY DETAILED! The large field allows for an impressive amount ofengraved details that do justice to the original portrait.
PLAYING WITH LIGHT! Multiple finishes against a polished proof field help re-create the dramatic light and shadows that are the hallmarks of Karsh's portrait style.
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 uniquenumber, starting at 1.
10 OZ. PURE SILVER! Your coin was meticulously crafted in 10 oz. 99.9% pure silver.
VERY LOW MINTAGE! Limited to 750 coins worldwide.
NO GST/HST!
Design:
The original 1951 photograph of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (then Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth)is expertly reproduced on your coin, where Her Majesty faces left with head turned toward the viewer. Her Majesty wears an off-the-shoulder evening gown and the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara in this head and shoulders portrait, one of several takenby the Yousuf Karsh at Clarence House on July 30, 1951, ahead of the 1951 Royal Tour of Canada. Multiple finishes and a proof field evoke the dramatic interplay of light and shadow, the hallmark of Karsh's style, which earned him international acclaim asone of the great portrait photographers of the 20thcentury. The obverse features the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt.
Did you know...
Yousuf Karsh photographed some of the most influential men and women of the 20th century, including Winston ChurchillMartin Luther King Jr., and Albert Einstein (featured on a 2015 10 oz. coin). Karsh would prepare by learning as much as he could about each subject, to converse with them and put them at ease during the shoot; as a result, his portraits offer a glimpse of thepersonality behind each famous face.
Karsh photographed Her Majesty five different times between 1943 and 1987, including an early portrait of a smiling 17-year-old princess.
The portrait that inspired the coin's reverse was taken just a few months before Her Majesty's very first visit to Canada in 1951. The sitting took place on July 30, 1951, at Clarence House, the residence of Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh until 1953.
Several other photographs were taken during the 90-minute sitting, including the first official family portrait with His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales and Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, who was born at Clarence House.
In this portrait, Her Majesty wears the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara. It remains one ofthe most recognizable tiaras worn by Her Majesty, who received it as a wedding gift from her grandmother, Queen Mary. Notice it is not worn with the matching bandeau in this portrait - the separate base was re-united with the tiara in 1969.
A different portrait of Her Majesty from that same sitting was commissioned for a postage stamp, andlater appeared (with the tiara removed) on the 1954Canadian Landscape banknote series and the 1967 Centennial Commemorative $1 note. The same image, this time with the tiara, was used for a metallic colour portrait on the 2015 commemorative note.
According to The Ottawa Journal (September 26, 1951, page 21): "It took Karsh only an hour and a half to take his many photographs, but he worked all night to process them. 'My assistant and I worked until 3:45 in the morning in order to finish them', Karsh told The Journal today. 'I had finished taking the photographs by 3:30 on the afternoon of July 30 [1951]. We had a light supper and thenstarted to work. I had brought a portable kit with me to facilitate the work and so by 10:30 the following morning I was able to take the completed portraits to Clarence House where Princess Elizabeth approved nine in color and 12 in black and white from among them. I doubt whether color photographs of this kind have ever before been processed in such a short time.'"
