The Mint is simultaneously honouring history and making history with this innovative thin 5 oz. coin, which brings an engraved representation of Emanuel Hahn’s original sketch of the 1939 silver dollar. Working off the hand-drawn mock-up preserved in the National Currency Collection of the Bank of Canada, engravers have painstakingly re-created Hahn’s preliminary “Parliament” art concept for the commemoration of the royal visit of King George VI—whose effigy appears on the obverse—and Queen Elizabeth. Every pencil mark, and even the fold lines of the original paper document, are etched upon the coin’s reverse, where the relief—struck incuse for that hand-drawn look—honours both the artist and the artwork that holds historical significance. Mintage of 1,350. HST/GST Exempt. 

The Design:
The coin’s reverse is an engraved representation of an early pencil sketch of the 1939 silver dollar designed by artist Emanuel Hahn (1881-1957). Marked by the paper fold lines of the original sketch residing in the National Currency Collection of the Bank of Canada, the reverse design is a partially completed depiction of the Parliament buildings in Ottawa, along with perspective lines and other preliminary graphic elements hand-drawn by the artist, including the Roman-style lettering for the Latin legend “FIDE SVORVM REGNAT” (“He reigns by the faith of his people”). The obverse features the historical effigy of George VI by Thomas Humphrey Paget.