As Canada prepares to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation in 2017, the Royal Canadian Mintproudly celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of the nation's primary architect and firstPrime Minister: Sir John A. Macdonald.
Selectively gold plated and artistically frosted, this proof coin pays a fitting tribute to one of the most important figures in Canadian history. An ideal gift for someone you know who enjoys Canadian history.
Design:
Your coin features a selectively gold plated portraitof Sir John A. Macdonald. Presented standing besidea desk, Sir John A. Macdonald gazes charismatically out from the image—taking much the same pose he would have stood for in Prime Ministerial photos of his day. In his right hand he holds a sheet of paper, showing that he is hard at work tacklingthe task of nation-building. His left hand rests casually on the table top beside him.
About Sir John A. Macdonald:
On July 1, 1867, the Dominion of Canada was created, and Sir John Alexander Macdonald, a key architect of Canadian Confederation, became the new nation's first Prime Minister. Knighted by Queen Victoria for his role in Canadian Confederation, Sir John A. Macdonald led the nation until his death in 1891, with only a single interruption in his leadership, from 1873 to 1878.
John Alexander Macdonald was born on January 11, 1815, in Glasgow, Scotland. He and his family immigrated to Kingston, Upper Canada in 1820. With a successful law practice, and having held political office at the municipal level in Kingston, Macdonald joinedthe Upper Canada cabinet in 1847, serving as receiver general and commissioner of Crown Lands. In 1854, he entered the cabinet of the United Province of Canada, serving as Attorney General for Canada West. Taking on a heavy portfolio of legislative work and providing important legal counsel to various departments of the government, his responsibilities grew until he and George-Étienne Cartier were jointly leading the Government.
By the 1860s, it was clear that some form of constitutional change was necessary. John A. Macdonald, along with George Brown, Cartier, and their colleagues presented a vision of a united British North America to the leaders of the Maritime colonies at the Charlottetown Conference in September 1864. They ultimately achievedtheir goal on July 1, 1867, when the Dominion of Canada was created—with Macdonald, its key architect, as the new nation's Prime Minister.
Macdonald's tireless work sowed the seeds of the sovereign nation of Canada.
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