On today’s date in 1838, the first recorded baseball game in North America took place near the Beachville Baptist Church in present-day Beachville, Ont.
The first documented evidence of a baseball game in Canada is a letter published in Sporting Life magazine in 1886. The letter was sent by former Beachville resident Dr. Adam Ford, who wrote about the momentous game that took place 48 years earlier.
Many Canadians, including the staff of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in St. Marys, Ont., claim this was the first documented game of modern baseball; however, there is no evidence the rules used in this game were codified or adopted in other regions.
The Mint also struck four silver coins as part of its World Baseball Classic series in 2013.
2018 BASEBALL COIN
In 2018, the Royal Canadian Mint struck 5,000 pure silver convex coins, entitled “180th Anniversary of Canadian Baseball.”
Designed by artist Steve Hepburn, the coin features engraved stitchwork while its curvature transforms the reverse into a baseball-shaped canvas.
As seen from behind the “knocker’s stone” (today known as home plate), the participants from Beachville and Zorra are all in position: one team stands in the open field, ready to catch the ball; a “knocker” (batter) from the opposing team grips the “club” (bat) as he keeps his focus on the ball tossed by the “thrower” (pitcher); to the right of him, an “umpire” leans in to rule whether the ball is “fair” or “unfair.” At their feet, the denomination “25 Dollars” is engraved; in the arched banner above, the double commemorative dates “1838” and “2018” flank a rendering of the equipment used in that era: two clubs (crossed) and a yarn ball covered by stitched calfskin.
In 2013, the Mint struck its World Baseball Classic commemorative coin series, which included four silver and three gold coins, each depicting a different baseball-related theme.
In Proof quality, the set included a $150 half-ounce gold coin, two $75 quarter-ounce gold coins and four $20 one-ounce silver coins.
Three gold coins were also included in the Mint’s 2013 ‘World Baseball Classic’ set.
Each of these seven coins also features reverse designs by Hepburn. These designs are surrounded by the inscriptions “2013” and the face value of the coin. Also shown on the reverse are the artist’s initials of “SH” and the official logo of the World Baseball Classic tournament.
The commemorative coins were struck as legal tender. Shown on their obverse is Susanna Blunt’s effigy of Queen Elizabeth II. Surrounding her portrait are the inscriptions “ELIZABETH II,” “CANADA” and “D G REGINA.”