New $2 coin marks Legion’s 100th anniversary
BY YOUR SOUTHWEST MEDIA GROUP
A new coin helps members of the Royal Canadian Legion celebrate their 100th anniversary.
The $2 coin went into circulation last week to honour “the Legion’s century-long mission of supporting veterans, including still-serving military and RCMP members, and their families,” a Royal Canadian Mint statement said. Parliament passed an act in 1926 to establish the Legion.
Meanwhile, the government also distributed over $300,000 to help cover the costs of 75 projects that commemorate the centennial.
The “coin truly commemorates our milestone anniversary and we thank the Royal Canadian Mint for creating this remarkable keepsake piece,” Berkley Lawrence of Carbonear, N.L., the Legion’s national president, said in the mint’s statement.
Vlada Pashchenko of Provost, Alta., the 2023 senior colour poster winner in the Legion’s youth remembrance contest, designed the coin.
An adaptation of the Legion’s crest fills the centre of the coin’s reverse, surrounded by the motto Memoriam Eorum Retinebimus (We Will Remember Them).
A silhouette of a Legion member offering a poppy to a child with their mother appears in the foreground. An adaptation of the Legion’s poppy logo appears between the coin’s micro-engraved security marks. The obverse features the effigy of King Charles III by Steven Rosati.
The mint is pressing three million of the coins, two million of which will have a “colourized” centre, the statement said.
The 75 projects, such as exhibits, commemorative events and educational activities, “will recognize its lasting contributions to veterans, their families and communities across Canada,” a Veterans Affairs Department statement said. “They will also encourage Canadians to deepen their understanding of Canada’s military history and the sacrifices of those who served.”
“For 100 years, the Royal Canadian Legion has been at the heart of communities across Canada, supporting veterans and their families, bringing people together and helping Canadians remember the service and sacrifices that shaped our country,” said Jill McKnight, the veterans affairs minister.
“As the Legion marks its centennial, these projects will honour the members and volunteers who have carried that legacy forward for generations and help inspire future generations to do the same,” McKnight said during the Legion’s 50th Dominion Convention on Aug. 24 in Winnipeg, where the organization formed.