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By Bret Evans
The 75th anniversary of Canada's first $1 coin is being commemorated in a new dual-dated Proof set based on the coins of 1935.
The coins in the set are reproductions of the circulating money of 1935, complete with the obverse design of King George V and inscriptions "GEORGIVS V DEI GRA: REX ET IND: IMP:," for "George V by the grace of God, King and Emperor of India."
The $1 coin has the inscription "GEORGIVS V REX IMPERATOR ANNO REGNI XXV," which translates to "25th year of the reign of King and Emperor George V." That inscription reflects the status of Canada's first circulating dollar, a commemorative issue for the king's Silver Jubilee.
It was also the first Canadian dollar to be a "godless coin," since it omitted the reference to "the grace of God."
Students of Canadian numismatics know that a silver dollar had long been planned for Canada. The famed 1911 $1 pattern was created for that purpose and sets were even produced with a spot for that coin. However, at the last minute, the plan was shelved.
Twenty-three years late, prime minister R.B. Bennett announced in October 1934 that Canada would produce a circulating silver dollar in 1935. Bennett's motivation might have been partly patriotic and partly to stimulate the silver mining industry. Striking Impressions, an official history of the Royal Canadian Mint, points out that the coin was also expected to alleviate the financial losses the Mint was facing as old coin withdrawals exceeded mintage.
But, "the immediate stimulus, however, came from a circular from the Royal Mint advertising its intention to issue a jubilee medal," Striking Impressions says.
The Royal Mint offered the dominions the opportunity to participate in the medal's production and sale.
Apparently, the RCM had other ideas.
"Literally within days of this overture, the Canadian government announced in a cable to Britain its intention to issue a silver dollar for the jubilee," the book says.
The master of the mint at the time, J.H. Campbell, proposed creating a new obverse portrait and using it on all circulating coins. He saw this as the first step in a redesign that would also include the reverse.
However, Bennett wanted a coin with the portraits of both George and Queen Mary. That idea didn't work because the only precedent in circulating coins was in the case of joint rulers.
The Royal Mint suggested instead a new design by Percy Metcalfe already adopted by several dominions, including New Zealand and Southern Rhodesia. But minister of Finance Edgar Nelson Rhodes wanted the uncrowned royal portrait then used in Britain, or failing that, the existing royal portrait by E.B. MacKennal with a special inscription. King George was expected to reserve the uncrowned portrait for British coins, and the Royal Mint suggested moving the commemorative inscription to the edge of the coin.
At this time, although the Royal Canadian Mint struck coins in Canada, the dies were usually prepared by the Royal Mint.
In the end, compromise won. The Metcalfe design was selected, with the inscription preferred by the minister of Finance, and no edge engraving. To make room for the commemorative wording, "DEI GRA" was removed. Rhodes would not even consider abbreviating it to "D.G."
There was further debate about the reverse design, but there was little time if the coin was to be produced in 1935. MacKennal's design was retained for the other coins of 1935.
The Royal Mint suggested using the Canadian coat of arms design originally planned for $5 and $10 gold pieces in 1928.
Before his suggestion even reached Ottawa, the government had already commissioned famous Canadian sculptor Emanuel Hahn to design the new coin.
Hahn arrived in Ottawa in November 1934 with a sketch of his design, incorporating a caribou, only to find out that a government advisory committee, and in particular Rhodes, had other ideas.
The minister of Finance wanted a canoe with a voyageur and an Indian.
Rhodes was a man who was used to getting what he wanted. Hahn immediately worked up a new design and model, which was shipped to London by Jan. 3, 1935.
The design even won over Robert Johnson, deputy master of the Royal Mint, who described it as a fine coin.
Canada's first silver dollar was declared legal tender on May 1, 1935, just five days before the king's anniversary.
Canadian banks had not expressed much confidence in the coin, suggesting that only about 15,000 would be needed, and insisting that the government pay the shipping. The coin was a success, with a final mintage of 429,000. The following year, the 1936-dated dollars were struck without the commemorative inscription. Instead, the MacKennal design prepared for the 1911 dollar was used.
As an aside, Hahn's caribou design didn't go to waste. It was used for a later design, and still appears on 25-cent coins to this day.
The RCM's set faithfully reproduces the coins of 1935, with the dual date of 1935-2010 on the reverse, where 1935 originally appeared. True to the era, the dollar has the Metcalfe design, while the other denominations have the MacKennal obverse. The current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, does not appear anywhere in the set.
The cent is copper, as were the cents of 1935. However, the other coins are struck in sterling (.925) silver. In 1935, the 5-cent coin was struck in nickel, while the others were .800 silver.
The sets are packaged in a maple wood display case. All coins are struck in a Proof finish, with a mintage limit of 5,000 sets.
New coins honour old notes
A second family of coins marks another numismatic anniversary of 1935, the issue of the first Bank of Canada notes.
Although the various governments of Canada had been issuing paper money since before Confederation, it was most often viewed as a way to balance the budget, rather than a means of government control. Canadian chartered banks issued their own paper money and ran their own clearinghouses. The Canadian system, based on branch offices rather than a large number of small independent banks, was seen to be relatively stable. Government banking was done by what was then Canada's largest bank, the Bank of Montreal, which even dispensed Dominion of Canada notes at one time.
In 1913, when the idea of a central bank was being discussed in Parliament, prime minister Robert Borden said he saw "no present necessity" for such a bank.
By the depression of the 1930s, the political climate had changed.
Canadians blamed banks for the financial crisis, Western politicians wanted a central bank to guarantee lower interest rates, and while chartered banks didn't want to lose the power to issue money, many resented the Bank of Montreal's lucrative position as banker to the nation.
Bennett had an agenda as well. He was concerned by the lack of a direct means of settling international accounts.
A royal commission headed by Hugh Macmillan, Baron Macmillan of Aberfeldy, a British judge and standing counsel for Canada, was appointed to review the arguments for and against a central bank.
A week after Macmillan reported in favour, Bennett announced that a new bank would be formed. An appendix to the report became the framework of the Bank of Canada Act.
The act received royal assent on July 3, and the Bank of Canada opened it doors on March 11, 1935. Its first governor was Graham F. Towers, a former Royal Bank of Canada officer, who had made a presentation to the commission on behalf of Canadian bankers.
In order to operate independently of the government, Canadians were offered the chance to buy shares of the bank at $50 each. That arrangement didn't last and the next government, that of prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, doubled the number of shares, giving it effective control, and in 1938, purchased back all outstanding shares at $59.20 apiece.
The Bank of Canada became a Crown corporation, but one which operates independently of the government. A deputy minister of Finance sits on the board, but does not vote, and governors and deputy governors of the bank are named by the board of directors, although decisions require the approval of the Cabinet.
One of the immediate changes was that the bank took over the paper money operations from the Department of Finance. It also took over the authority to issue banknotes from the chartered banks, although on a more gradual basis. Originally, banks were ordered to reduce note issues to 25 per cent of capital on hand, but just nine years later, in 1944, the bank act was amended to forbid the issue or reissue of any of its own notes by any chartered bank as of Jan. 1, 1945. Chartered banks were still permitted to issue notes up to 10 per cent of their capital for foreign use until 1954.
The Bank of Canada's first notes were introduced on March 11, 1935 and included denominations of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500 and $1,000 with a $25 note issued later that year to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V.
The designs on the notes feature a member of the royal family or former Canadian prime minister on the front with an allegorical figure representing a different aspect of Canadian industry or culture on the back. Each denomination was originally available in either English or French until bilingual notes were introduced in 1937.
Originally, they were to replace Dominion of Canada notes.
The British American Bank Note Company printed the $2, $5, and $10 note issues, while the Canadian Bank Note Company printed the other denominations.
At this time, the printers supplied notes to the bank without signatures or seals. These were applied by Bank of Canada staff using letterpress plates prepared by the Royal Canadian Mint.
The Royal Canadian Mint's current commemoration does not include any parts of those plates, but does consist of four coins incorporating elements from the original note series. The notes are designed with complex devices, based on the allegorical figures from the backs of the notes, on plain fields, a striking difference from an earlier gold coin incorporating elements from Dominion of Canada 25-cent notes.
The $10 silver coin depicts a seated woman surrounded by fruits of the harvest, representing the prosperity of farming, or perhaps just prosperity in general. Taken from a painting by an unknown artist, the vignette was originally engraved by H.P. Dawson. The note was a dark purple colour and featured Princess Mary on the front. All of the coins have the denomination across the top of the reverse in a style similar to that used on the notes, while inscriptions are in a similar style of lettering.
The coin is struck in .999 silver, with a weight of 15 grams and diameter of 34 millimetres.
The $20 silver coin shows a kneeling man presenting grain to a young woman under an apple tree, again a sign of rural prosperity. The original vignette, called "Testing Grain," was engraved by Edwin Gunn from a painting by A.E. Foringer.
The note was rose coloured and showed a young Princess Elizabeth on the front.
The coin is struck in .9999 silver with a diameter of 38 mm and a weight of 31.39 grams.
The $10 and $20 coins each have mintage limits of 7,500.
The third coin is a $50 silver piece showing a seated woman with a microphone surrounded by ether, representing modern invention.
The vignette was engraved by Robert Savage from another painting by Foringer. The note was brown and featured Prince Albert, Duke of York, on the front.
The coin is struck in .9999 silver, with a weight of 157.6 grams (five troy ounces) and a diameter of 65.25 mm. It has a mintage limit of 2,000 pieces.
The fourth issue is a $500 gold coin with a reverse design of a seated female figure, sitting under a tree with a sickle, said to represent fertility. The vignette was engraved by Savage, from yet another work by Foringer. The note was brown and featured John A. Macdonald on the front.
The coin is struck in .9999 gold with a weight of 156.05 grams and a diameter of 60.15 mm.
The mintage limit is 200.
Five-ounce silver and gold coins have been popular products for the RCM, and have been used for the 2006 four seasons, 2007 Queen's 60th wedding anniversary, 2008 RCM anniversary, and 2009 Parliament Buildings coins.
RCM offering silver bars from Switzerland
In an unusual move, the RCM has become the exclusive North American distributor of a product made by someone else.
The RCM has expanded its product line to include four silver wafers, all with holes to be worn as jewelry. The four wafers Ð depicting snowflakes, maple leaves, birchbark, and river stones Ð were designed and produced by the Swiss firm, Produits Artistiques Metaux Precieux (PAMP).
PAMP is a major bullion seller, as well a refiner and recycler of silver and gold.
The wafers are similar to PAMS' "Icons" line of gold and silver jewelry.
The silver wafers have a weight of 10 grams and are struck in .999 Fine silver. They measure three by 1.7 cm. The reverse has the PAMP logo and a certification stamp.
RCM spokesman Alex Reeves said PAMP, which sells Gold Maple Leaf coins, has had a long relationship with the Mint.
"It's a way for people to enjoy fine silver as a form of jewelry," he said. "My wife has one and she gets compliments on it all the time."
June 22 to July 5, 2010 issue of Canadian Coin News
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