CANADA
2016
150th anniversary Of The Translatlantic Cable
$1 Silver Coin Gold Plated
In Square Capsule
Specification:
RCM Number: 150180
Face Value: $1
Mintage: 10,000
Composition: 99.99% Fine Silver
Weight: 23.17 g
Diameter: 36.07 mm
Edge: Serrated
Finish: Proof
Artist: Yves Bérubé (reverse), Susanna Blunt (obverse)
Today, the world is at our fingertips, with every corner of the globe merely a click away. But there was a time when news could travel only as fast as the person, horse or ship that was carrying it, and it took weeks, months or even years to be relayed.
This all changed 150 years ago when a transatlantic cablewas laid across the ocean to connect Valentia Island, Ireland, with Heart’s Content in Newfoundland. The ambitious plan was inspired by a submerged cable that had begun transmitting telegraph messages across the English Channel in the early 1850s, and this prompted industry to set its sights on the great divide of the Atlantic Ocean.
After numerous attempts starting in 1857, success finally came on July 27, 1866, when the massive steamship, the S.S. Great Eastern, arrived in Newfoundland’s Trinity Bay where the historic cable was pulled to shore atHeart’s Content.
Suddenly, breaking news could be transmitted in a fraction of the two-week timeframe it took ships to cross the sea. It was an achievement that fundamentallychanged the way the people perceived the world, and ultimately paved the way toward the global communications of the 21st century
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