CANADA
2010
R.C.M.P. 1/25oz. 9999 Pure Gold
50 Cent Gold Coin
Specification:
RCM Number: 108185
Face Value: 50 Cent
Mintage: 14,000
Composition: .9999% Fine Gold
Weight: 1.27 g
Diameter: 13.9 mm
Edge: Reeded
Finish: Proof
Artist: Janet Griffin-Scott (reverse), Susanna Blunt (obverse)
R.C.M.P.
Canada’s national police force was originally known asthe North West Mounted Police. They were foundedin 1873, and after a period of training, two hundredand seventy-five police officers were dispatched topatrol the western frontier.
Their objective: to establish law and order, suppressthe whiskey trade, bring unruly desperados to justiceand establish positive relations with the First Nations people of the area quite a challenge considering there were no facilities when they arrived.
The men were entirely on their own. Communication with the East involved a 322 km (200 mi) ride to Montana (USA). The men set about building a hospital, shelter for the horses, followed by sleeping quarters forthe men and officers. With the help of local settlers andnative groups, they were able to gather enough supplies to see them through the winter.
Recruits were required to know how to ride, butlittle attention was given to the finer points of military riding. Formal cavalry drills began in 1885as the force was approaching 1,000 men. Fifty years later, the wife of one of the original British Cavalry Sergeant who trained the men remarked how themanoeuvres at the 1935 Exhibition and Stampedewere identical to the original drills a grand displayof horsemanship set to music that continues todelight audiences the world over as the Musical Ride.
In 1920, the Force became known as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Today, it isa world renowned organization with more than 28,000 members. The spirit and history of the RCMP is woven into the history of the prairies. The cities of Calgary (Alberta) and Regina (Saskatchewan) bothoriginated as NWMP posts and the buffalo on the RCMP crest recalls the untamed frontier that greetedits first recruits over a century ago.