On today’s date in 1998, Titanic won 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Directed by Canadian-born James Cameron, the film received the most nominations with a record-tying 14 nods. Eventually winning 11 awards, Titanic tied with Ben-Hur for the most Academy Awards in Oscar history.
“Even before the awards presentation, the odds were heavily in favor of ‘Titanic,’ the 3-hour-and-14-minute blockbuster that has been No. 1 at the box office for 14 weeks and has grossed a record $1.2 billion around the world, including $495 million in the United States,” reads a March 1998 story published by The New York Times.
“The film starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as fictional lovers aboard the vessel that sank in the Atlantic in 1912, carrying more than 1,500 people to their deaths.”
The Times story also noted security at the event, held in the 6,000-seat Shrine Auditorium in South-Central Los Angeles, was “far more visible and intense than in previous years – even movie stars and nominees went through metal detectors – partly because of a yearlong labor dispute between ABC, the Disney-owned network that broadcast the show, and the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians. Members of the union picketed near the Shrine’s entrance as limousines pulled up and stars walked onto the sun-drenched red carpet.”
Both the 50-cent coin (shown above) and 25-cent coin featured a stylized, colourized design.
2012 TITANIC COIN
In 2012, the Royal Canadian Mint featured the RMS Titanic on three commemorative coins to mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the colossal vessel.
Designed by Yves Bérubé, the $10 Fine silver coin depicts a finely detailed image of the vessel as it travels westward on its doomed maiden voyage with the Atlantic Ocean shimmering in its wake alongside the iceberg that sealed its fate. Inscriptions on the coin include “CANADA,” the face value “10 DOLLARS,” the year-date “2012,” the words “RMS TITANIC” and the nautical coordinates at which Titanic sank, “41°44, 49°57.” With a mintage of 20,000 pieces, the hand-polished coin has a mirror-like Proof finish, a weight of 15.87 grams and a diameter of 34 millimetres.
Both 2012 Titanic coins were designed by Yves Bérubé.
Also designed by Yves Bérubé, the Proof 50-cent colourized coin depicts a different view of the ship with the Atlantic glistening below in shades of blue. Inscribed is “CANADA,” the face value, the year-date, and “RMS TITANIC.” This coin has a mintage of 15,000 pieces.
The third coin, a specimen 25-cent coloured coin designed by Three Degrees Creative Group, depicts two scenes of the legendary vessel, each with varying colours. Inscriptions include “CANADA,” the face value and the years “1912-2012.” The Mint didn’t set an official mintage limit for this coin, instead offering it “while supplies last.”
The obverse of each coin depicts Susanna Blunt’s effigy of Queen Elizabeth II.