1 dollar 2024 - L. M. Montgomery
By thecanadiannumismatist | Thursday, 27 June 2024
On the 150th anniversary of her birth, the Royal Canadian Mint released on June 26, 2024 a new $1 commemorative circulation coin honouring L. M. Montgomery.
This coin pays tribute to Montgomery's talent and contributions to Canadian and world literature, as well as her role in popularizing Prince Edward Island and Canada through her Anne of Green Gables novel series and other works.
I greatly admire my grandmother, for her contribution to Canadian literature and culture, her strength of character, and the love, pride and sense of responsibility she gave to my family. For her to be commemorated on millions of circulation coins is an unimaginable honour and I hope Canadians will cherish it as much as I do, not only for the stories she told, but for the woman she was.
- Kate Macdonald Butler, Montgomery's granddaughter
The coin was unveiled at Green Gables Heritage Place, the family house and farmstead administered by Parks Canada that Montgomery used as the inspiration for the setting of her novel Anne of Green Gables. Its artwork is the creation of Prince Edward Island artist Brenda Jones. It features a profile portrait of the Canadian author (1874-1942) around the time Anne of Green Gables was written, along with the author's signature and the cat drawing she often included when signing her name.
The life and legacy of L. M. Montgomery is the kind of story that belongs on the first circulation coin to celebrate an author. With her iconic tales of Anne Shirley still being translated into dozens of languages and adapted for stage and screen, we are proud to have represented Montgomery's story on a coin that will be shared and treasured for generations.
- Marie Lemay, President and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint
The coin design is from the view of the author putting pen to paper (represented by the portfolio and inkwell) to that of Anne Shirley gazing out at Prince Edward Island farmland - the real-life inspiration for many of Montgomery's stories. The obverse features the effigy of His Majesty King Charles III by Canadian artist Steven Rosati.
Born in Clifton in 1874, L. M. Montgomery published hundreds of short stories and poems, in addition to 20 novels. She eventually settled in Toronto, where she died in 1942.
Limited to a mintage of three million coins, of which two million are coloured.
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