canadian mint

Colourful new Canadian coin is based on one of the country's biggest novels

If you're an Anne of Green Gables fan, you may want to invest in collecting Canada’s latest coin design.

The Royal Canadian Mint is now offering a 1 oz. pure silver coin celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of the novel's author, L.M. Montgomery.

"Publishing hundreds of short stories and poems in addition to 20 novels, she achieved lasting fame through the creation of one of the world's unforgettable characters: a plucky, talkative orphan girl with red braids, big feelings and imagination, and the same deep love for Prince Edward Island as her creator," reads the Mint's site.

The design

The literary icon is depicted in a portrait on the 99.99 per cent pure silver coin's reverse alongside the heroine of Anne of Green Gables, the manuscript, and the rolling green hills and blue skies of the Prince Edward Island landscape.

The colours are so bright and vivid, it looks like the pages of a storybook.

canada coin

Royal Canadian Mint

Montgomery's signature has also been recreated on the coin's reverse, complete with a miniature cat drawing, which is how she signed many of her books.

Brenda Jones, the Canadian artist who designed the coin, also included the words "150 YEARS ANS," referencing the author's birth.

How can you collect the coin?

Unfortunately, this pure silver version is not a circulation coin, so you will have to pay a pretty penny to add it to your collection.

It costs $119.95 and can be ordered on the Mint's site. It's limited to a mintage of 5,000.

canada coin

Royal Canadian Mint

If you can't afford this version, don't worry. There's also a $1 circulation coin going around, but you will have to sift for it through your change.

Luckily, the Royal Canadian Mint is hosting coin exchanges across the country, if you want a more straightforward way to get your hands on it.

Otherwise, you can buy a wrap roll of the collector's item on the Mint's site for half the price of the pure silver version.

Lead photo by

Jim Reed/Shutterstock


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