1967 Canadian coins designs
By thecanadiannumismatist | Wednesday, 17 May 2023
In 1964 the Minister of Finance, Walter L. Gordon, announced that a competition open to artists, sculptors and designers residing in Canada or to Canadians living abroad would be held for the submission of coinage designs. A $2,500.00 First Prize was offered for the winning designs in each of the 6 coinage denominations (1 cent, 5 cents, 10 cents, 25 cents, 50 cents and 1 dollar). These coins were issued in 1967 to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Confederation (1867-1967). The competition closed on March 31, 1965.
A Panel of Judges was appointed to choose the 6 winning designs. This panel, under the chairmanship of Mr. N. A. Parker, Master of the Royal Canadian Mint, was composed of the following members:
- Mr. R. B. Bryce, Deputy Minister of Finance
- Dr. Charles Comfort, Director, National Gallery of Canada
- Dr. W. K. Lamb, Dominion Archivist
- Miss Eleanor Milne, Sculptor, Ottawa
- Mr. Marius Plamondon, Sculptor, Quebec City
- Mr. L. Rasminsky Governor of the Bank of Canada
- Mr. Douglas Ferguson, numismatist, Rock Island, Quebec
- Mr. Alan Fleming, Toronto, designer and graphic artist
- Mr. Clair Stewart, Toronto, designer and graphic artist
- Mr. Julien Herbert, Montreal, designer and graphic artist
The decision of the panel was announced in the mint report of 1966. They selected the designs of Mr. Alex Colville of Sackville, New Brunswick for all of the reverses of the 1967 Centennial coinage.
The obverses of the coins were designed by Arnold Machin. In 1964, he was chosen to design a new image of Queen Elizabeth II from 1965 to 1989.
Alex Colville
Born in 1920 in Toronto, Ontario, Colville moved with his family at age seven to St. Catharines, and then to Amherst, Nova Scotia, in 1929. He attended Mount Allison University from 1938 to 1942, where he studied under Canadian Post-Impressionists like Stanley Royle and Sarah Hart, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.
He died on July 16, 2013 at his house in Wolfville at the age of 92 of a heart condition.
1967 Canadian coins
Some silver 1967 coins were produced with 80% silver in it, while others with only 50%. 1967 and 1968 are transitional years for silver content in circulating Canadian coins.
1 cent - Dove
For this I wished to use a very common bird, but one with symbolic overtones. I selected the dove (rock dove), very common in cities as well as in the country, as the pigeon, and having associations with spiritual values and also with peace.
5 cents - Rabbit
The rabbit (varying hare) is common, much loved by children, perhaps because of it vulnerability. It survives by alertness and speed, and is symbolically connected to the ideas of fertility, new life and promise-it is a future, or united, animal.
10 cents - Mackerel
Being the smallest coin, this requires a simple and unambiguous image. I used the mackerel, one of the most beautiful and streamlined fish, common on both coasts. The fish has ancient religious implications; I think of it as symbol of continuity.
25 cents - Wildcat
The wildcat (bobcat) seemed appropriate for this coin, which is large enough for the subtle shape of this common, though rarely seen, animal. It is expressive of a certain intelligent independence and a capacity for formidable action.
50 cents - Wolf
The wolf, unfortunately no longer common, is here symbolic of the vastness and loneliness of Canada, and thus of our tradition and to a degree, of our present condition. Yet the wolf is not a pathetic creature.
1 dollar - Goose
The Canada goose seems appropriate for the dollar since it is one of our most majestic creatures and is particularly Canadian. There are other associations with traveling over great spaces, and a kind of serene dynamic quality in this bird.
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