coins of the British empire/commonwealth
Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2019 8:13 am
One of the things I find most interesting about the coins of Canada is how, historically at least, they have reflected and reinforced the connections between this country and those of the British empire.
Imagine a 20 year old who had lived his or her entire life in Ceylon standing on a street in Colombo on 21 December, 1910. Now teleport them to St. Johns, Newfoundland; same date and same year. It's likely that much of what they saw would be unfamiliar but they would certainly have recognized the local money as money. If s/he were to compare a new 10 cent piece from the two places they would see Edward VII on the obverse - one would say "King & Emperor" and the other whereas the other would say "D.G. Rex Imperator" but aside from minor details like that there would be no problem recognizing the two as money.
I find it weirdly amazing to think of this - more than half the population of the earth would have had this connection.
Imagine a 20 year old who had lived his or her entire life in Ceylon standing on a street in Colombo on 21 December, 1910. Now teleport them to St. Johns, Newfoundland; same date and same year. It's likely that much of what they saw would be unfamiliar but they would certainly have recognized the local money as money. If s/he were to compare a new 10 cent piece from the two places they would see Edward VII on the obverse - one would say "King & Emperor" and the other whereas the other would say "D.G. Rex Imperator" but aside from minor details like that there would be no problem recognizing the two as money.
I find it weirdly amazing to think of this - more than half the population of the earth would have had this connection.