Description
Celebrate the extraordinary life and accomplishments of aeronautic pathbreaker Elsie MacGill with this special wrap roll of 25 brilliant uncirculated 2023 $1 commemorative coins. Mintage is limited to just 15,000 rolls.
The Design:
The design features a portrait of Elsie MacGill (1905-1980) together with a sky backdrop which highlights some of MacGill’s historic engineering achievements. At the top is the Maple Leaf Trainer II – the first aircraft to be produced and designed by a woman, while the larger colourized plane is the WWII era Hawker Hurricane which MacGill played a key role in producing.
About Elsie MacGill:
Elsie was the first Canadian woman to graduate with a degree in electrical engineering, the first woman in North America with an advanced degree in aeronautics, and the world’s first woman to become an aircraft designer. She designed, oversaw production and was aboard the test flight of the Maple Leaf Trainer II. She was “Queen of the Hurricanes” and pivotal in the production of the Hawker Hurricane in Canada during World War II and designed a series of modifications including de-icing and skis to equip the plane for cold weather flying.
She went on to serve on aeronautical research and regulatory committees for the National Research Council and the United Nations. During her appointment to the Canadian Royal Commission on the Status of Women, she supported abortion and tax laws that made women responsible for themselves.
Among several awards, Elsie earned four honourary doctorates, made an officer of the Order of Canada, and The Ninety-Nines, Inc., International Organization of Women Pilots presented her with the Amelia Earhart Memorial Scholarship medallion.
All her work and achievements were accomplished even though she contracted polio at the age of 24. The only thing that this stopped was her deep desire to obtain a pilot’s certificate. However, from the rear seat of the Maple Leaf Trainer and for thousands of hours hovering over her engineering drafting table, Elsie flew.
The obverse features the posthumous effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt together with the years of the Queen’s reign 1952-2022.
This special wrap roll includes 25 brilliant uncirculated $1 commemorative coins, all with the colour element. Mintage is limited to just 15,000 rolls.
