Description
The Royal Canadian Mint is proud to present its first 5-kg 99.99% Fine Silver Coin, featuring The Spirit of Haida Gwaii design from the masterpiece by Bill Reid, one of Canada’s most accomplished and renowned artists.
Bill Reid was an eminent Haida sculptor, carver, and master goldsmith, and one of Canada’s greatest artists. Over the course of his life, Reid created more than 1,500 exceptional works. His powerful sculpture The Spirit of Haida Gwaii is considered his masterpiece which brought him international acclaim.
The Design:
The Spirit of Haida Gwaii features a massive Haida canoe filled with thirteen powerful figures drawn primarily from Haida myth. Reid himself hinted at the universal symbolism of this vessel that seems to contain all of life, where strife and peace, body and spirit are locked in eternal struggle on a journey that moves ever onward to an unknown—and perhaps unknowable—destination.
The keystone first bronze casting of Reid’s famous sculpture The Spirit of Haida Gwaii: The Black Canoe is located at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., with a second bronze casting, The Jade Canoe, located at the Vancouver International Airport. The original plaster pattern of the monument—a work of art in itself— resides at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Quebec.
An artwork of The Spirit of Haida Gwaii is also depicted on the back of Canada’s $20 note (2001-2004 Series, Canadian Journey) to represent the theme “Arts and Culture”.
For secure shipping, the collectors box is placed inside a watertight, crushproof, and dust proof Pelican Case 1550.
