2013 1/2oz $10 O CANADA SERIES - ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE FINE SILVER COIN

Theme:
The third coin in the Royal Canadian Mint’s exciting new O Canada series focusing on iconic Canadian images, this beautiful coin celebrates the rich history of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Description:
This 10-Dollar coin is certified to be 99.99% pure silver with a diameter of 34 millimetres and a metal weight of 15.87 grams. The reverse design by Canadian artist Janet Griffin-Scott features a portrait of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer on horseback. The Mountie fills the central field, rider and horse facing the viewer. The Red Serge regalia—the RCMP’s formal attire—is presented in exceptional detail. The central garment is the military-style tunic with low collar, brass buttons, a single left breast pocket and one of the two lower front pockets visible in the image. The officer’s Sam Browne belt and white lanyard are visible along with various badges and decorations on her upper right sleeve and lapel. Her broad-brimmed Stetson hat is worn low over the eyes to block out the sun. On her legs she wears the Mounties’ traditional riding breeches with their distinctive yellow side stripe. Her feet, shod with spurred riding boots, sit firmly in the stirrups as he masterfully controls his muscular mount whose right flank and hindquarters are visible, along with the special “MP” monogrammed “numnah” or saddle blanket. In the lower third of the background we see the stylized outline of the RCMP’s original territory: the Canadian prairies. A large Canadian flag flows across the central and upper background of the image, seeming to flutter in the prairie winds. Framing the reverse image is a polished outer band engraved with the word “CANADA,” the date “2013,” and the face value of “10 DOLLARS,” as well as a small stylized Mountie symbol. The obverse features the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt.

Special Features:

• This is the third coin in the Royal Canadian Mint’s exciting new O Canada ½ oz silver coin series. The series focuses on iconic Canadian images to celebrate all that makes Canada unique. Rendered in 99.99% pure silver with limited mintage, this coin is sure to be sought after by collectors.
• Future coins in this series include images on the Polar Bear, Beaver, Maple Leaf and other iconic Canadian images, and is available as part of a monthly subscription.
• This beautiful silver coin comes in a clamshell protected by a special full-colour beauty box.
• Engraved in exquisite detail to celebrate one of Canada’s most important national icons.
• A great gift and collectible to celebrate Canada’s natural wonders, Canadian history, and the country’s unique iconography.

Specifications

Face Value: 10 dollars
Mintage: 40,000
Composition: 99.99% pure silver
Weight (g): 15.87
Diameter (mm): 34
Edge: Serrated
Certificate: Serialized
Artist: Tony Bianco

Packaging:
Each coin is encapsulated and presented in a maroon clamshell case lined with flock and protected by a customized full color beauty box.

Complete certificate text:
O Canada
Canada’s national identity is much like its majestic landscape: diverse, storied, and sometimes elusive. In the ever-changing tectonics of Canadian culture, identifiers tend to reflect the nation’s natural assets and social and political institutions. Born of this complex background, Canadian icons are distinct because they carry meaning for all Canadians, regardless of where we live or how we came to be here. These are the images that plumb the depths of Canadian pride and kindle Canadians’ love for their home.
The Scarlet, The Gold, and The Blue: The Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Since 1873, the image of the mounted policeman in a brass-buttoned scarlet riding coat has come to symbolize the stalwart sprit of Canada. In our mind’s eye we see this icon: tall, tan, Stetson on his head, sitting atop his jet black horse, surveying the land, keeping chaos at bay, and protecting the people of an ever-changing nation. The press of the 19th century, followed by 20th-century Hollywood, glamourized him as the one who “always gets his man.” With the Mounties came frontier settlement of a different sort: not the American Wild West, but the orderly establishment of successful outposts as a first step in nation-building.
This organization, which today is more than 28,000 strong, began with only about 275 men in 1874, when Canada’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, sent a paramilitary force of horse-mounted police to establish order in the nation’s newest territory, which was known at the time as the Northwest Territory. The troupe’s first order of business was to deal with traders, primarily from the United States, who had brought a plague of whiskey, fighting, and conflict with native peoples to the region now known as southern Alberta. Canada would establish peaceful relations with the native peoples first, then begin the process of settlement. The new police force—called the North-West Mounted Police—was responsible for carrying out this work, bringing British law and establishing the force’s first permanent post at Fort Macleod.

In the 1880s, the backbone of settlement, the Canadian Pacific Railroad, was laid across the prairies and into the heart of the Rocky Mountains. The North-West Mounted Police policed the settlements that arose along the railway, not only maintaining law and order but also representing every facet of civil authority in these early years, acting as customs agents, postal workers, negotiators, fire-fighters, census-takers, horse managers, climate and crop trackers, and even physicians. These services complemented those of the CPR, which had its own infrastructure during construction, including firemen, engineers, and postal service.
The North-West Mounted Police played an important role in supporting the military during the 1885 Métis uprising led by Louis Riel. By the end of the century, the force had spread northward into the Yukon Territory—where they would play a key role in managing the vast numbers of prospectors there during the Klondike Gold Rush—and throughout the Mackenzie River and Keewatin areas to protect native people, maintain order among traders, and fight poaching. Swapping sled dogs for horses, the northern detachments of the force helped to maintain the sovereignty of the Canadian Arctic.
Following the drama of the Winnipeg General Strike in 1919, the government decided that Canada needed a national police force that would serve the country from coast to coast. In 1920, the Royal North-West Mounted Police joined forces with the Dominion Police in eastern Canada. The new force was named the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
In the years since, the force has grown in scope, mandate, and size. By the 1950s, the RCMP was the provincial force for every Canadian province and territory except Ontario and Quebec. In 1974, women were first admitted as Regular Members. Today, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is a truly modern institution whose rich heritage is celebrated across Canada and around the world.
A Canadian Icon
For more than 130 years, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police force has protected Canadians and enforced Canadian sovereignty. The force not only played a formative role in the history of Canada’s western frontier, but has from its earliest beginnings demonstrated the qualities that make Canada distinct: pragmatism, lawfulness, cooperation. These are qualities in which all Canadians take pride and, along with the image of the Mountie, are fundamental elements of the image of Canada around the world.