Franklin coin unveiled by Royal Canadian Mint
I am very excited and pleased to announce that I was commissioned to create a collectors coin for the Royal Canadian Mint in a series to honour ships lost in Canadian waters. My coin depicts the newly found wreck of HMS Erebus, one of the Franklins lost ships.
This coin is very special as it was designed in May 2014 well before the Victoria Straight Expedition team, including our friend Bill Noon, Captain of the Canadian Coast Guard ship Sir Wilfred Laurier, discovered the wreck of HMS Erebus. Lost for almost 170 years!
On September 9th, 2014 we received an email from Bill Noon, just minutes after the announcement by our Prime Minister Steven Harper, that a ship wreck from the Franklin expedition had been found.
As with all coins I design for the Royal Canadian Mint I am required to keep it confidential until the coin is unveiled by the Mint, which they did Wednesday, July 22nd in Halifax at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic; see link for unveiling. http://globalnews.ca/news/2125470/franklin-expedition-commemorative-coin-and-stamps–
Immersing myself in research for the coin inspired me to also create a larger work. Please see the photograph attached for a partial image of the 24” x 36” painting I produced of the 2 ships in the Arctic, which is available to purchase.
Also in the photograph you will see the original small painting I produced for the coin, and the coin in its case.
The other exciting event that happened around the same time was a donation by Mr. Anthony Sessions and family to the Vancouver Maritime Museum of “a significant library of Sir John Franklin material”, which is the foundation for a very interesting exhibition about the Arctic currently on view at the Museum. Please support the Vancouver Maritime Museum by going to see this exhibition
http://www.vancouvermaritimemuseum.com/exhibit/across-top-world
All in all an exciting time for historians and people interested in the Arctic marine environment! Please feel free to circulate this to any of your friends who are interested in coins, the Arctic or the marine environment.