July 1st is Canada Day. Happy Canada Day to all Canadians, be you at home or abroad!
Every year since 2000, the Royal Canadian Mint has issued a colored 25 cents to celebrate Canada Day. In 2000, there were actually two coins: "Millenium" (the first colorized coin issued by the RCM) and "Celebration".
The French Mint celebrates the 150th Anniversary of the Franco-Japanese Treaty in 2008 by issuing a series of 1.5 euro silver proof coins illustrating various aspects of the rich Franco-Japanese relations. The Franco-Japanese "Treaty of peace, friendship and commerce" was signed in October 1858. The two countries are still very involved in trade and cultural exchange initiatives.
The first three coins, issued earlier this year, all show artistic objects in existence at the time of the treaty:
The reverse is common to the entire series, and represents the official logo of this anniversary, a combination of the Eiffel Tower and a kimono.
The French Mint just issued a fourth coin in this series. Its obverse shows the most popular monuments of Paris (the Eiffel Tower) and Tokyo (the Sensoji Temple, the oldest temple in Tokyo).
The Royal Canadian Mint is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2008. To commemorate this historical event, the RCM just issued a unique coin and stamp set featuring a double-dated (1908-2008) silver proof replica of the 1908 fifty-cent piece, Canada’s first domestically-produced coin. Before that, Canadian coins were minted in Great Britain. The obverse of this 2008 commemorative coin shows the effigy of His Majesty King Edward VII.
The stamp included in this set shows the 1908 50-cent coin featuring a crown and a border of maple leaves. This commemorative domestic rate (52¢) stamp was issued on June 4, 2008 by Canada Post. Looking at this high-relief stamp gives a really good impression of the original coin because of the way the image of the coin is embossed.
The coin:
The stamp:
The National Bank of Poland just issued an exceptional 2008 silver proof 10 zlotych coin commemorating the Siberian exiles, the lost generations of the Polish nation. The reverse of this historically significant coin features a zircon crystal at the center of a stylized representation of the trees in Syberia. The obverse shows silhouettes of human figures with the inscription: "… bylismy tlumem bezimiennym" (… we were a nameless crowd).
From the NBP's documentation:
The term "Sybiracy" (the Siberians) is a colloquialism and is primarily used in two meanings. In Russia, it refers to the inhabitants of Siberia who were not members of indigenous tribes and Asian peoples. (...) However, in Poland the term "Sybiracy" has come to denote all the Poles who were sent into exile and forced to settle in Siberia ("sent into exile to Siberia") from where some of them did not return. (...) Poles first came to Siberia as prisoners of war in the first half of the 17th century, but the actual history of the Polish Siberian exiles begins after the suppression of the Confederation of Bar in 1768. (...) It is estimated that 16,800 Poles and 1,800 members of their families were sent into exile between 1863 and 1867, as a result of the failure of the January 1863 Uprising. (...) Most of the "Siberian exiles" returned to the Second Polish Republic during or after World War I, but some Poles did not leave Siberia and became "Siberians" in the Russian sense of the word.
Quebec City was founded on July 3, 1608 by the French explorer Samuel de Champlain, who established a settlement at Kébec, an Algonquin word meaning “place where the river narrows”. Quebec City's Old Town is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the only walled city on the continent. It was built by both French and British armies, and is now a tourist district with small boutiques and hundreds of historical and photographic points of interest. The last time I went to Quebec City's Old Town, I visited a traditional glass-blowing workshop where I saw a craftsman at work producing decorative bottles.
To celebrate the 400th Anniversary of Quebec City, the Royal Canadian Mint issued a 2008 silver proof dollar coin featuring Samuel de Champlain with the habitation he built at the foot of Cap-aux-Diamants at Kébec. There's also a proof coin with selective gold plating on both sides available in the 2008 proof coin set.
The RCM has also struck a 2008 commemorative 2-dollar circulation coin. Its design features the encounter between Samuel de Champlain's vessel and the two shores of the St-Lawrence River, which are represented by two of a fleur-de-lys' petals.
Canada Post recently issued a 2008 commemorative stamp celebrating the 400th anniversary of the founding of Québec City, a joint issue with France's La Poste.
The French Mint recently issued the 2008 Manet 1/4 euro silver coin, the second coin in the French Painters series. This series started in 2007 with the Degas coin and will end in 2015. A total of nine rectangular silver coins will feature French painters throughout five important artistic movements, from classicism to modernism.
The Impressionist movement is represented on the 2007 coin featuring Edgar Degas and one of his famous paintings, L'étoile, while the second coin features Edouard Manet and Olympia, an oil on canvas painting in the Realist style. Both paintings are currently housed at the Musée d'Orsay, the Impressionist museum in Paris.
The Perth Mint has recently issued three 2008 gold coins featuring the popular Maneki Neko, or Lucky Waving Cat figurine.
These cute gold coins made me aware of the different meanings of the porcelain cat statues I see near the entrance of many Asian restaurants. Depending on their colors, what they wear, and the position of their paws, these lucky cats have a different significance. For example, it is believed that a Maneki Neko with a raised right paw brings wealth and good luck, while the cat with a raised left paw attracts customers, friendship and love.
The Royal Canadian Mint is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2008. To celebrate this event, the RCM is issuing a 50 dollars silver proof 5-ounce coin featuring its headquarters.
The Royal Canadian Mint building, located at 320 Sussex Drive in Ottawa, Ontario, is a remarkable castle-like building. The Ottawa branch of London's Royal Mint was inaugurated on January 2nd 1908, and was transferred in 1931 to the Canadian government.
I had the chance to visit this Royal Canadian Mint facility in Ottawa and the tour is very interesting. This is where they produce their collector and commemorative coins, their gold bullion coins, and also their medals. During the tour, you can learn everything about the steps required to produce each collector coin, from the melting of the silver to the rimming, burnishing, and finally the striking of each coin.
