|
|
Above: Royal Bank of Canada issue, 2 January 1920 for Port of Spain , Trinidad in the denomination of $5 Trinidad or £1.10d sterling. Several Canadian banks were allowed to open branches in the West Indies and issued their distinctive currency over the next 20 years or so.
Vol. 10, No. 3 March, 2011
"Canadian Commemoratives, Commemorating Themselves "A Couple of Sculptor's Greeting Cards"
The Mid-Island Coin Club, Dues: $12 per year Mailing Address: Mid-Island Coin Club, c/o West Coast Stamp & Coin, Executive Officers: President: Chris Linfitt
The February meeting was attended by 34 members and guests, a pretty good turnout. Member Rusty Phillips gave us a very comprehensive overview talk on wooden money. There was also a display of loonies; there are a lot more of them than commonly thought. The March meeting will feature a talk by Dietmar Gritzka on prospecting in the north. Should be interesting. News Flash: After having sold West Coast Stamp & Coin, Jeff Ross is back with a store again. As the "GoldSilverGuy" (bullion, coins and jewellery), Jeff will be operating at 619 Townsite, the little plaza containing the Janitor's Warehouse building, Wednesdays through Saturday. Phone: 591-5511. Opening slated for March 10th.
************************************************************************
The Rise of Bronze Coinage.
There was nothing new about bronze; there had even been a Bronze Age that stretched over millennia. A long time ago, metal smiths had discovered that adding a little tin (a weak, fairly crumbly metal) to copper (a soft, malleable one) resulted in an alloy that was both hard and tough. Copper coins were nothing new, either; the ancient Greeks (among others) used them. And once in a while, the copper in the coins was adulterated somewhat with the much cheaper zinc, resulting in brasses that ranged in appearance from pure copper to a very yellow colour, depending on the amount of zinc added.
Up until a very few years ago, there was a sort of "classic bronze" used in the coinage of the western world and it came about almost haphazardly, by trial and error. Its antecedents lay with a very specific group of coins: those from the very first years of the Revolution in France , 1791/2.
France . Bronze 2 Sols, 1791-A ( Paris ). This type was struck 1791-3 at 17 different mints and there was a corresponding series.
The French Revolution dates from the fall of the Bastille ( 14 July 1789 ) and although Louis XIV remained the acknowledged ruler for a few years, this soon descended through imprisonment and execution. The Republicans were not only anti-aristocrat, they were anti-clerical as well, a tremendous amount of the best French lands being in the hands of the church. All of the lands and possessions of the nobles and church were seized, the land itself being the backing for the paper "assignats" and among church seizures were innumerable bells. Generally speaking, they were broken up for their metal.
But "bell metal" as such has but one purpose and although its rough formula is copper with a high tin content (10-15%), the different foundries each had their own in-house secret formulas, all striving for a metal giving a bright, clear tone which would nevertheless not break, two not very compatible characteristics. In considering what to do with this mountain of broken bell metal, one solution was to use it for minor coinage, the coins of the common people. Accordingly, in 1791, there first appeared coins similar to the above in denominations of 3-, 6- and 12-deniers (or a "sol") and a 2-sol. It seems that the earliest attempts were not exactly successful: the 12-denier, for instance, seems to have originated as a fairly pure bell-metal and surviving examples are on the yellowish side, weakly struck, dumpy and with ragged edges due to layers of lamination. For some years, the dumpiness remained since bell metal will not strike as a thin coin; it is likely to break even in the press. Obviously over the next few years, the problems were overcome by the simple addition of more pure copper to the mix, reducing the tin content to something more desirable. By trial and error there evolved what became known as "French Bronze" (specified by law of 6 May 1852): 95% copper - 4% tin - 1% zinc, the last being the cheapest metal of all and just as good in this mix. The result was a coinage metal that was easy to strike (so long as the planchets were softened by heat ahead of time), hard, tough - and best of all, cheap. It allowed the coinage of wide, thin coins without breakage.
France . 5-Centimes, 1856-W ( Lille Mint)
The above shows the typical coin in "French Bronze" in use at the mid-19th Century. With a diameter of only 25mm, it was also much lighter than the British pure copper halfpenny of the time which measured 28mm and had a weight of 1/48th of a pound avoirdupois . Yet the two had nearly the same value: in terms of the U.S. Dollar, the French 5-Centime equalled 19/20th of a cent while the British halfpenny was worth a hair over 1¢.
The discrepancy did not go unnoticed by the British public who were agitating for minor coins in more convenient size, especially since the French, just over the Channel, had been using them for decades. The soft, heavy British copper coins were much given to edge bruising and heavy nicking, neither of which were a great concern with the French "bronzes". In Britain, most of the planning and development in this regard took place over the course of 1857-60.
These were also the halcyon years of agitation for conversion to decimal coinage and became part of the changes to the minor coinage. In the end, the "florin" alone, equal to 1/10th of a Pound Sterling, appeared in 1849 as a sop to these ambitions. There was simply no way that the Pound Sterling, as it stood, could be made decimal; in order to do so, all the parts of the Pound would have to be jettisoned and that was unthinkable, seeing that the Pound, in the form of the gold Sovereign, was the most solid coin in the world. In 1858, the Province of Canada (present-day Ontario and Quebec ) adopted decimal currency, making the new Canadian dollar equal to the U.S. gold dollar. New coinage had to be struck for this new currency in silver as well as base metal - in this case, bronze. There was no template for the new Canadian cent to follow so the result was the
borrowing from a number of old and new sources. Its value was pure American, but in no other way did it resemble its southern counterpart. In 1858, the U.S. was in the midst of retiring its old, heavy, pure copper cents in favour of the new small (about ¾-inch diameter) "Flying Eagle Cent" which, moreover, had a composition of 88% copper : 12% nickel. Totally different. Much of the Canadian cent's design was British, the work of Leonard Charles Wyon of the Royal Mint, combining Canadian suggestions with his own artwork. The obverse was an adaptation of his father, William Wyon's, Victoria "Young Head" while the reverse included a serpentine wreath of maple leaves arranged in alternate order - something that does not exist in nature. But in size , composition (and even design elements), the Canadian cent owes much to the contemporary French 5-centime piece, illustrated before: like the French coin, it was in "French Bronze" (and stipulated as such); like the French coin, it, too, was a thin piece of 1-inch diameter and equally light in weight - in Canada's case, it was made exactly 1-inch in diameter and weighing exactly 1/100th of a pound to serve as a weight and measure, although the Canadian public remained indifferent or ignorant of these uses. But the "design in ring" also seems to have been copied from the French piece.
In its way, the new Canadian cent was an original creation. Had it appeared a few years later (after 1860), it would have had a model in sight: the British bronze halfpenny. The bronze cents of Nova Scotia , New Brunswick , Newfoundland , Prince Edward Island and even the Canadian cent when it again appeared in 1876 all used British halfpenny planchets weighing 80-to-the-pound (or 1/5th ounce each) and struck in "French Bronze". Moreover, the first three used the same obverse as the British halfpenny - Nova Scotia and New Brunswick completely as-is, Newfoundland with a legend change. Additionally, the bronze half-cents of the first two also used British farthing planchets as well as the same obverse.
When we look again at the British pattern penny, are we not struck by the similarity between it and the Canadian cent of a year or so before? That this might be so is not surprising. When signed at all, many of the pattern pennies carry the initials JW , for James Wyon, cousin of L.C. Wyon (designer of the Canadian cent), and Resident Engraver at the Royal Mint, 1851-60.
But insofar as the British public expressed a wish for a lighter, more convenient coinage in the base metal denominations, it was granted in late 1860 (proclamation of 17 December 1860). Previously, the old copper penny had weighed 1/24th of a pound (or 2/3 ounce each), the halfpenny and farthing in proportion. In the new coinage, the bronze penny weighed half the old copper (bronze = 145.83 grains or 1/3-ounce) or 48 pence to the pound weight. However, this was proportionally light in comparison to the new halfpennies and farthings which were made to a standard of "40 pence to the pound", the halfpenny weighing an even 1/5th-ounce, the farthing 1/10th. Diameters were also made smaller: roughly 1.2-inch for the penny, 1-inch for the halfpenny, and .8-inch for the farthing.
British bronze Penny, 1860. Approx. 1 ½ x.
Except for the size and denomination, all of the new bronze coins were alike, the work of L.C. Wyon. Although introduced late in the year 1860, a great many were issued of this date for all three denominations: 2,867,000 farthings; 6,630,000 halfpennies; and 5,053,000 pennies. There are also numerous recognized varieties, the result of the Royal Mint being overwhelmed with this amount of new work (over £1,000,000 in new bronze coinage was introduced 1860-2) and being forced to outsource much of this work to the firms of Boulton & Watt and Ralph Heaton & Sons who, between them, coined between 1,700 and 1,800 tons of new bronze coin.
The following story is true, as reported by George Ansell of the Royal Mint in 1870: The first denomination worked on by L.C. Wyon was the penny and from the original master dies he struck a single coin, submitting it (as protocol required) to Queen Victoria for her approval - which she granted. However, William Gladstone, Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time, spotted an error in the legend: BRITT was rendered as BRIT. A Latin abbreviation with a doubled final letter signifies a plural: " Britains " and since it is understood to read something like "the Isle of Britain and all others contiguous thereto", BRITT is correct, and used as such since 1816. The coin and covering letter were mailed to Wyon but at the Royal Mint the packet was purloined by a mail clerk - who was later apprehended but the coin never seen again. At one time, at least in 1860, there existed a bronze British penny with BRIT in the legend; does it exist still? Wyon, of course, immediately made the necessary legend change and the bronze-coin project went forward.
Until 1869, the two types of composition circulated side-by-side, even though the British government was conducting a quiet withdrawal: any of the old pure copper coins received by them or the Bank of England was not paid out again but sent in for melting. This made great economic sense since there was enough copper in an old penny to manufacture roughly two new ones, the halfpennies and farthings only slightly less productive. To encourage their return to the Mint, a premium of 2% was paid on them up to 31 December, 1869 after which period (until 30 July 1870 ) they would be received only at face and totally demonetized thereafter.
After 1860, the cents of Canada and its constituent provinces (even Newfoundland ) took the convenient course of having them struck on British halfpenny bronze planchets, any half-cents struck on farthing blanks. For Canada , the size and composition of her cents remained until the cent was shrunken in diameter (1920) and until 1942, when the shortage of tin forced that constituent metal to be reduced to a whisper of ½ %, replaced by zinc. There it stayed until the plated-zinc and plated-steel cents of recent years.
Following its brief fling with copper-nickel cents (1857-64), the U.S. also converted to plain bronze, even though they never admitted to it being "French Bronze", the official composition designation being "95% copper, 5% tin and zinc". There it stayed until 1962, except for the war years of 1943 (zinc-coated steel) and 1944-7 (95% copper, 5% zinc). This latter composition was again adopted in 1962 and used until copper-plated zinc replaced it in 1982.
Bronze is no longer "cheap", inflation alone steadily eroding its use in the most minor coin. ************************************************************************
Canadian Commemoratives, Commemorating Themselves.
On May 7, 1987 , the Royal Canadian Mint unveiled the design of its new one-dollar coin specifically struck to replace the paper dollar notes. The design in question featured a loon floating on lake water with an island in the background, the work of Robert Ralph Carmichael. As most collectors are aware, this was not the government's first choice; it was intended to continue with a reworking of Hahn's "Voyageur" reverse but somewhere between Ottawa and Winnipeg , the dies were apparently abducted by UFOs and never seen again. For this reason, the RCM fell back on its second choice, which has been used ever since.
R.R. Carmichael at the unveiling. Winnipeg , 7 May 1987
The coin was a simple cost-saving measure, its estimated "life" of possibly 30 years making it much more economical than the paper dollar, whose "life" was measured in months. Since the note ceased to be printed, the "Loonie", as it was soon termed, became the dollar denomination of commerce and more than a half-billion were released in the first three years. It was also the first Canadian coin to be honoured by the "Non-Circulating Legal Tender" (read: "collectors only") department of the Mint. On the Loonie's tenth anniversary, two NCLTs appeared. Oddly, no Loonies were struck for ordinary circulation in 1997 - nor would any more be until 2002, even though in all years they would appear as part of separate sets for collectors.
Tenth Anniversary of the "Loonie", 1997 Sterling silver, round (but appears 11-sided), Dia.: 36.07 mm; Wgt.: 25.18 grams Obv.: Dora de P é dery-Hunt; Rev.: Jean-Luc Grondin (Des.)/ Sheldon Beveridge ( Eng. ) Sold separately as Proof in black clamshell case Mintage: 24,995 ; Issue Price: $49.95
Tenth Anniversary of the "Loonie", 1997 Nickel-bronze, 11-sided, Dia.: 26.5 mm; Wgt.: 7 grams Designers/ engravers as above. Sold only as part of BU sets. Mintage: 84,124. Set issue price: $21.95
Oddly, the usual "floating loon" was replaced on the commemoratives by a rather awkward "loon taking off". But "regular" loons appeared on 1997 dollar coins in the pliofilm pack sets of that year - 174,692 of them. In 2002, there was a "$5 1-Ounce" Maple Leaf struck (29,970 struck @ $39.95) commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Loonie - but even the Mint didn't call it a coin .
* * * * *
1998 "Large Cent", Obv. 1 Reverse common to both 1998 "Large Cent", Obv. 2 No CANADA, Matte Proof Both matte and mirror proof CANADA, Mirror Proof All: Sterling silver; Dia.: 25.4 mm.; Wgt.: 5.67 grams. Only available in sets (see below)
1998 was a rather strange year in that the Mint saw fit to celebrate its 90th anniversary with a set of NCLTs that duplicated in size and weight the same denominations as 1908. This included a "large cent" (although struck in sterling silver, it was bronze- plated) with two different obverses: the portrait as currently used on the 1998 regular coinage and a specific one with smaller head and including the word CANADA (perhaps because the "Type 1" cent showed no country of issue). All the others in the set used the Type 1 portrait. All of the rest of the denominations - including a silver "fishscale 5-Cent - were struck in the same size, weight and fineness (.925 silver) as those of 1908.
The above illustrations are enlarged about 50%, but each denomination was:
Denomination Weight Diameter Rev. Design Cent 5.67 grams 25.4 mm Aago Arand from G.W. DeSaulles 5 Cents 1.167 grams 15.494 mm as last 10 Cents 2.32 grams 18.03 mm G.W. DeSaulles 25 Cents 5.81 grams 23.62 mm Aago Arand fr. W.H.J. Blakemore 50 Cents 11.62 grams 29.72 mm as last
This issue was released in two types of finish, both of them housed in a burgundy leather clam-shell case: As "Matte Proofs", 24,893 sets were issued - all of them including the Type 1 "No CANADA" portrait on the cent; in "Mirror Proof", 18,376 were issued - all of them including the Type 2 "CANADA" portrait on the cent. Issue price for both sets was $99.00
* * * * *
Still on the 90th anniversary theme, the year 2001 saw the appearance of a sterling silver dollar commemorating the rare 1911 issue. The normal current de P é dery-Hunt obverse was used but the reverse was a direct copy of the 1911 piece except for the date, 1911-2001. Also copied was diameter (36.07 mm) but the weight, at 25.18 grams was a little heavier, in keeping with the current collectors' silver dollars. They were sold only singly in a tan satin square case. 24,996 were coined, the selling price at $49.95 substantially higher than that of the other silver dollar (National Ballet of Canada) that year. * * * * *
Seemingly stuck on 90th anniversaries, the Mint brought out a set of two gold commemoratives in 2002 which marked Canada 's $5 and $10 gold pieces of 1912. The commemoratives were struck in the same size, weight and fineness as those of 90 years before, i.e.:
5 Dollars .900 fine gold Weight: 8.36 grams Diameter: 21.59 mm 10 Dollars .900 fine gold Weight: 16.72 grams Diameter: 26.92 mm
These were sold only as a set in a two-coin clamshell-type case in Proof condition. The issue price was $749.95 per set and a total of 1,998 issued.
* * * * *
Not exactly commemorating coins as much as their designs was rather odd set of sterling silver proof 50-Cent pieces issued in 2004. Officially, these coins commemorated the various coats-of-arms that had appeared on the Elizabeth II 50-cent reverses. Except for the 2004 date, the designs were close copies of the originals, but all were struck in .925 silver which none of the originals were and both the weights (9.30 grams) and diameters (27.13 mm) were different as well.
Obv: Mary Gillick Rev.: G.E. Kruger-Gray Obv: Arnold Machin Rev.: Thomas Shingles (1953-64) (1953-58) (1965-89) (1959-96)
Obv: Dora d-P. Hunt Rev.:Thomas Shingles Obv.: Susanna Blunt Rev.: C. Bursey-Sabourin (1990-2003) (1959-96) (2003 - ) (1997 - )
These NCLTs were available only in 4-coin proof sets, housed in a maroon leatherette case with an issue price of $79.95 per set. A total of 12,230 sets were struck.
* * * * *
2004/5 saw the appearance of 5-cent pieces patterned on the old steel "V-nickels" of WWII. Those of 2004 commemorated the 60th anniversary of D-Day, those of 2005 VE-Day.
The 2004 V-Nickel was an NCLT, coined in sterling silver with the same 12-sided shape as its 1944 predecessor. They weighed 5.3 grams (heavier than the original nickel) and had a diameter of 21.3 mm. The obverse, in use on the current coin, was by Susan Blunt, the reverse an RCM makeover of the original design by Thomas Shingles. These coins were available only in a folder accompanied by a bronze medallion and a CD. The issue price was $29.95 and 20,019 were struck.
The similar 2005 coin was a regular circulating issue, of which 59,258,000 were struck. All specifications were as usual at the time, the coin itself being composed of multi-ply plated steel.
But as an NCLT, another "nickel" was struck, being a direct copy of the 1945 "V-Nickel", even to the obverse displaying George VI. It was struck, however, in Proof sterling silver (unplated reverse) and was available only in a set with an accompanying bronze medallion and booklet. The issue price was $29.95 and 42,792 pieces were struck in this form. With the reverse selectively gold-plated (shown above), single pieces were issued with the 2005 Mint Report to a total amount of 6,065 coins. Issue price was $24.95.
* * * * *
In 2006, it was the turn of the Twoonie to celebrate its tenth anniversary and the occasion was marked by yet another NCLT. Although the size and design was much like the regular circulation issue (except for the dual date), the composition certainly wasn't since it was mostly gold. The ring was of 22-carat gold (.917 gold : .041 silver : .042 copper) while the lighter-coloured center was .172 gold : .7767 silver : .052 copper (4.1-carat if there is such a thing). Total weight was 14.02 grams, with a diameter of 28 mm. The pieces were available only singly as proofs housed in a maroon clamshell case at an issue price of $399.95 each. A total of 2,068 were struck. Stay tuned; there will probably be more.
A Couple of Sculptors' Greeting Cards.
As in all areas of the trades and arts, there are individuals who have particularly close relationships with others. Such friendships among painters and sculptors sometimes result in a sort of greeting-card trade of gifts, always in highly limited numbers, frequently with only one example being made. In a way, they are also tours de force of the quality and skill of the respective artists, so they are always of their very best work. That is the category into which the two above examples fall, both from the collection and estate of John Ray Sinnock, former Chief Engraver of the U.S. Mint. That on the left is a cast bronze medallion (at 250mm, very much larger than shown here) that was sculpted by Sinnock in 1936 for his friend, fellow sculptor R. Tait McKenzie. Today, this medallion is unique, only a (presumed) copy having been retained by Sinnock. The small ribbon below McKenzie's neck reads: "From His Friend / John R. Sinnock. 1936" McKenzie reciprocated a couple of years later with the piece on the right. A model in uniface red clay (77.2mm), this unique work was mounted on a plywood backing with sides and top of the same material comprising a box. Just ahead of Sinnock's nose is a fine hairline crack, the result of the clay having continued to dry over the years. Such "greeting-card" works are about as rare as it gets.
|
March 2011"Canadian Commemoratives, Commemorating Themselves "A Couple of Sculptor's Greeting Cards"
|
|---|
