Description
This 2015 $3 pure silver matte proof coin pays marks the 100th anniversary of the poem “In Flanders Fields” and is a remembrance of those who bravely served their country – lest we forget. The coin contains one quarter ounces of pure silver. Plus two poppy 25 cent coins in custom display cases. GST/HST Exempt.
The Design:
The design by Canadian artist Laurie McGaw features a side-profile of Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae as he composes his famous poem, In Flanders Fields. There, on the battlefield a uniformed McCrae is seated with pen and paper in hand, using his elevated thigh as a writing surface. He appears deep in thought and fixed upon the task at hand; in the background to the right of McCrae, an ambulance truck is parked before a field tent – a reminder of McCrae’s medical role with the Canadian brigade during the First World War. A more haunting sight to the left and behind McCrae is the landscape covered with makeshift graves for the fallen soldiers together with the poppies that can be seen along the left edge of the image field.
Also engraved along the edge of the image field is the word “CANADA,” the commemorative dates “1915-2015”, the face value “3 DOLLARS” and the poem’s English and French title in McCrae’s recreated handwriting. The obverse features the effigy of King George V by Sir Edward B. MacKennal, as used on Canadian coins in the First World War period.
“In Flanders Fields”
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae (a Canadian physician in World War I) was inspired to write the poem on May 3, 1915, after presiding over a funeral of a fellow soldier. His references to the red poppies growing over the graves of fallen soldiers has resulted in the poppy being used as one of the world’s most recognizable symbols for Remembrance Day.
(first verse)
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
