The Royal Canadian Mint Pays Tribute to Veterans of the Normandy Campaign as It Releases Its June Numismatic Catalogue

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Royal Canadian Mint (RCM)

04 Jun, 2019, 18:30 IST

OTTAWA, Ontario, June 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Always proud to celebrate stories of Canadian accomplishment on its coins, the Royal Canadian Mint is launching two new coins honouring the soldiers who fought in the Normandy Campaign which, after the success of D-Day, sent the Allies on the path to liberating Western Europe. These historic keepsakes, along with many other finely crafted collectibles, are available as of today.

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The Royal Canadian Mint silver coin marking the 75th anniversary of The Normandy Campaign
The Royal Canadian Mint silver coin marking the 75th anniversary of The Normandy Campaign

Shortly after midnight on June 6, 1944, the paratroopers of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion started dropping behind enemy lines to support the D-Day invasion: destroying bridges, neutralizing key targets and securing the flanks of the amphibious landing area.  An innovative perspective of our "maroon berets", the first Canadian troops to set foot on French soil, is captured by artist Pandora Young.  Parachuting under cover of night, these brave soldiers started the attack that would, once for all, change the course of the Second World War. 

This daring exploit is illustrated on the 2019 $125 Fine Silver Coin 75th Anniversary of the Normandy Campaign: Operation Tonga, a half-kilo pure silver coin.  The reverse shows a bird's eye view of a paratrooper dropping over the French countryside, with the static line connected to the plane just about to open his parachute, as his comrades float below with their chutes already deployed. The reverse features an effigy of His Majesty King George VI, as it appeared on all Canadian coinage in 1944.   

The action on Juno Beach is dramatically depicted on the 2019 $20 Fine Silver Coin Second World War Battlefront Series - The Normandy Campaign.  Designed by artist Brad Anderson, it features an infantryman crouched in the sand as fellow soldiers approach behind him in a landing craft and a Sherman tank, representing Canada's armoured divisions. Above this scene  appear sound waves illustrating the "sound" of "V" for "Victory" in Morse code — a signal that filled radio broadcasts on D-Day. The obverse of this coins also features His Majesty King George VI.     

Also on sale this month are:

  • The 2019 $20 Fine Silver Coin - 100th Anniversary of the First Non-Stop Transatlantic Flight, a new coloured, stamp-shaped coin celebrating the historic flight of a modified Vickers Bomber from St John's, NL to county Galway, Ireland;
  • The 2019 $200 Pure Gold Coin - HMS New Brunswick 1843, a numismatic tribute to that  year's New Brunswick penny, designed and produced by the now-defunct Soho Mint in Birmingham, UK;
  • The 2019 $30 Fine Silver Coin - Peter McKinnon Photo Series: Mount Rundle, celebrating an iconic landmark of the Canadian Rockies in 2 oz. of pure silver;
  • The 2019 $20 Fine Silver Coin - The Beloved Maple Leaf, an exquisitely detailed 1 oz. pure silver coin designed by artist David Caesar;
  • The 2019 25-Cent Pure Gold Coin - Bouquet of Maple Leaves, the Mint's newest 11 mm-wide, 0.5 g pure gold coin, designed by Vanessa Miller;
  • The 2019 $50 Fine Silver Coin - Rose of the Winds, artist Pandora Young's tribute to classical map-making, featuring a gold-plated compass rose surrounded by familiar iconography;
  • The  2019 $20 Fine Silver Coin - Sky Wonders - Fire Rainbow, the first in a new weather-themed series designed by Tony Bianco, featuring naturally occurring optical illusions that appear in Canadian skies;
  • The 2019 $30 Fine Silver Coin – Birds in the Backyard, featuring four different species of birds in a colourful design by artist Neil Hamelin;
  • The 2019 $20 Fine Silver Coin - Norse Gods – Odin, artist Alexandra Lefort's tribute to the mythology well-known to Canadians of Scandinavian descent;
  • The 2019 $20 Fine Silver Coin - The Sleeping Beauty, a Tony Bianco-designed rectangular coin depicting a ballerina, accented in pink and gold colour, gracefully dancing one of the world's most famous ballets;
  • The 2019 $100 Fine Silver Coin - Into the Light – Lion, a gold-plated 10 oz. silver coin featuring one of wildlife artist Robert Bateman's masterpieces of the African savannah;
  • The 2019 $5 Fine Silver Coin - This is Canada! a coloured, glow-in-the-dark silver coin designed by Tony Bianco;
  • The 2019 $3 Fine Silver Coin – Celebrating Canadian Fun and Festivities – Coastal Drive, designed by Steve Hepburn; and
  • The 2019 $5 Fine Silver Coin – Zodiac Series: Cancer, designed by Jori Van Der Linde.

Mintages, pricing and full background information on each product can be found on the "Shop" tab of www.mint.ca. Coin images are available here.

All of these products can be ordered directly from the Mint at 1-800-267-1871 in Canada, 1-800-268-6468 in the US, or on the Mint's web site. The coins are also available at Royal Canadian Mint' boutiques in Ottawa and Winnipeg, as well as through our global network of dealers and distributors, including participating Canada Post outlets.

About the Royal Canadian Mint
The Royal Canadian Mint is the Crown corporation responsible for the minting and distribution of Canada's circulation coins. The Mint is recognized as one of the largest and most versatile mints in the world, offering a wide range of specialized, high quality coinage products and related services on an international scale. For more information on the Mint, its products and services, visit www.mint.ca.

For further information: Alex Reeves, Senior Manager, Public Affairs, Tel: (613) 949-5777, [email protected]

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