Canada 10 cents - George VI 1939

The coin's story

This 10 cents coin in 800 thousandths silver belongs to the series struck from 1937 to 1947 in the name of King George VI. The reverse shows the Bluenose, a fishing and racing schooner launched at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, in 1921, designed by William J. Roue, she won the International Fishermen's Trophy several times and was beaten only once, in 1930. The design was created by the sculptor Emanuel Hahn for the new coinage of 1937, Hahn himself spoke only of “a schooner”, and the identification of the ship was long debated. The obverse bears the King's portrait engraved by Thomas Humphrey Paget. The 1939 date, the year of the royal visit to Canada, was struck in 5,501,748 pieces at the Royal Canadian Mint in Ottawa, a double-date variety exists for 1938.