Canada Post to host Canada 150 coin exchange at St. Catharines post office

St. Catharines resident, artist behind 2017 $1 coin Wesley Klassen will be on hand

On July 13, Canada Post is inviting Niagara residents to join Wesley Klassen, the artist behind the 2017 “loonie,” for a coin exchange event at the St. Catharines, Ont. post office.

From 10 a.m.-3 p.m., attendees will have the opportunity to exchange up to three $1 coins for three new 2017 circulation loonies at the St. Catharines Post Office, which is located on 4 Queen St. Attendees will also receive a free Canada 150 collector card that can be signed by Klassen.

Drawing on childhood memories of family vacations, Klassen chose to celebrate Canada’s sesquicentennial by illustrating the iconic engineering achievements that dominate the country’s landscape, which is connected by rail. His reverse design features landmarks such a the Lion’s Gate Bridge; a prairie grain elevator; the CN Tower; Le Château Frontenac in Québec; and an east-coast lighthouse.

2015 DESIGN CONTEST

In 2015, the Royal Canadian Mint conducted a nation-wide contest for Canadians to submit designs for the 2017 circulation coins. Klassen’s design was selected out of about 10,000 entries.

“It’s an amazing honour to have my artwork displayed the 2017 one-dollar coin and this will make my memories of Canada 150 that much more special for me and my family,” said Klassen when his design was unveiled in November 2016. “I chose images that are in one way or another connected to the railroad, for which all Canadians can be forever grateful, and I’m touched that my design appealed to so many of them.”

Klassen currently lives in St. Catharines but was born in nearby Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.

FIVE COINS

Aside from Klassen’s $1 coin, the other denominations include:

  • a 5-cent coin, Living Traditions, by Gerald Gloade, of Millbrook First Nation, N.S.;
  • a 10-cent coin, Wings of Peace, by Amy Choi, of Calgary, Alta.;
  • a 25-cent coin, Hope for a Green Future, by Joelle Wong, of Richmond Hill, Ont.; and
  • a $2 coin, Dance of the Spirits, by Timothy Hsia, of Richmond, B.C.

For more information, visit mint.ca/canada150.

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