You already know Canada's first Dollar coin was minted in 1935. As you probably know, King George V graces the obverse of the Dollar while the reverse features a Voyageur and his native companion in a canoe. This one dollar piece is crown-sized at 36.6mm in diameter and weighs 23.3 grams. It's composed of 80 percent silver and twenty percent copper. You may know those straight pivotal lines above the Island represent the glory of Aurora Boreais (Northern Lights). What you may not know about this first Canadian Dollar coin pertains to one of the three packs so carefully stowed between the two men. The one bearing the initials H.B. which represents the Hudson's Bay Company (French: Companie de la Baie d'Hudson), indicating the men navigating the canoe are fur trappers (native-American and a frontiersman, vital links to Canada's colonial developement. Reverse 1935 Canada Silver Dollar (Coin Link photo): http://www.coinpage.com/large.php?tImageId=1057 The Hudson's Bay Company is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. The company was incorporated by British royal charter on May 2, 1670 by King Charles II as The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay. The charter granted the company a monopoly over the Indian Trade, especially the fur trade, in the region watered by all rivers and streams flowing into Hudson Bay in northern Canada. The area was called Rupert's Land after Prince Rupert, the first director of the company and a first cousin of King Charles. This region constitutes 1.5 million square miles (3.9 million km²) in the drainage basin of Hudson Bay, comprising over one-third the area of modern-day Canada and stretching into the north central United States Here's a map of Rupert's Land courtesy of Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wpdms_ruperts_land.jpg HBC was once the de facto government in parts of North America before European-based colonies and states were established. Many of the outposts, trading posts and ports within HBC's sphere of influence hoisted HBC's banner on their flagpoles and staffs. Here's a photo courtesy of Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hudsons_Bay_Company_Flag.svg Who designed the reverse of Canada's First Silver Dollar? He was a noted sculptor of the time named Emmanuel Hahn. You should have noticed his initials EH on the coin's reverse, in that Coin Page photo, just below the water's surface under the rear of the canoe. And that's the who, what, why, and where of the artist's design on the reverse of Canada's first Silver Dollar Coin! Hope you enjoyed this bit of "trivia." Clinker
Thanks for the write up. I never found these kind of canadian coins attractive. That includes the nickels and so on.
Wouldn't a better title have been Reverse design on Canada's first dollar? And Canada's first dollar was in 1911, but only two silver specimens and one lead striking were made. It used a wreath design for the reverse.
Your right but I wouldn't call it our first dollar since it was never realy minted ,only patterned. It's too bad that they didn't mint it because I greatly favor the reverse design of the 1911 pattern rather then the voyager design. Although some catalogs to designate the 1911 as the first Canadian dollar...
