Description
This $20 pure silver coin pays tribute to the members of the Canadian Armed Forces who fought at Vimy in 1917. Mintage is limited to only 5,500. GST/HST exempt.
The Design:
The reverse presents a faithful reproduction of the Sacrifice Medal, with all of the details that carry the full weight of the symbolism from the original design. The real-life Medal has a diameter of 36 millimeters; here, the coin’s 40 mm diameter allows for a partial view of the ribbon attached to a suspension bar at the top of the Medal, which is ornamented with the Royal Crown (St. Edward’s Crown) to represent The Queen as Canada’s Head of State and Head of the armed forces. Selective colour re-creates the ribbon’s black central stripe that symbolizes mourning and grief; this is flanked by the red stripes that represent the blood spilled, while smaller white stripes speak of peace and hope for a better future.
On the medal itself, detailed engraving recreates the familiar representation of the cloaked statue “Canada” found at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in Vimy, France. With a downcast expression that personifies a nation’s sorrow for her fallen, the mournful figure faces right towards the flat horizon—itself a representation of the loneliness and isolation of mourning—while the word “SACRIFICE” looms just above it in the sky.
The reverse also features the engraved double date “1917-2017” to represent the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, while the obverse features the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt.
The Battle of Vimy Ridge was fought during the First World War from 9 to 12 April 1917. It is Canada’s most celebrated military victory — an often mythologized symbol of the birth of Canadian national pride and awareness. The battle took place on the Western Front, in northern France. The four divisions of the Canadian Corps, fighting together for the first time, attacked the ridge from 9 to 12 April 1917 and captured it from the German army. It was the largest territorial advance of any Allied force to that point in the war — but it would mean little to the outcome of the conflict. More than 10,600 Canadians were killed and wounded in the assault. Today an iconic memorial atop the ridge honours the 11,285 Canadians killed in France throughout the war who have no known graves.
