Owner Comments:
Novembers “Coin of the Month” (Volume 3 Number 3) column features an NGC PFUC-69, 1994 Canadian $200 gold coin (KM# 250) commemorating the “Literary Legacy” of Canadian Lucy Maud Montgomery’s 1908 novel, “Anne of Green Gables”.
This coin featuring a bust of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse and a young girl seated underneath a gazebo on the reverse is 29mm in diameter and weighs 17.135 grams. The mintage of this coin is 10,655 and the serial number on the certificate of authenticity that accompanies it is 03174. This coin unlike most gold coins has somewhat of a greenish hue. This is due to the alloying of gold with silver rather than copper. Thus, this 22-karat gold coin has a silver fineness of .0835 and a gold fineness of .9165 with an AGW of .5049 oz.
The Canadian $200 coin I have pictured commemorates “Anne of Green Gables-A Literary Legacy”. The reverse depicts a young girl in a garden seated and relaxed underneath a gazebo daydreaming of adventure inspired by the novel “Anne of Green Gables”. Suddenly, in this girl's imagination, Anne literally leaps from the pages of her book. Thus, no one should underestimate the potential of a good book to inspire the person reading it. This is especially true of the novel, “Anne of Green Gables,” the tale of an orphan, Anne Shirley, who against all odds overcame her circumstances and fulfilled her dreams.
Oftentimes when I want to read a book and/or meditate, I particularly like to find a good place to be alone in an environment where I can relax. I remember returning to Maryland from a family vacation in which we detoured off the main route to drive north on “Skyline Drive” in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western Virginia. Noticing a place to stop with a spectacular view of the valley below, we pulled over to allow us more time to take it all in. While there, I found a place to sit alone with my Bible where I had had a wonderful time of reading, meditation, and prayer in an environment that was especially conducive to those types of activities. In this manner, I can totally relate to the young girl on the reverse of this coin.
The following three paragraphs are copied from the COA that accompanied this coin and give the history behind this commemorative:
Lucy Maude Montgomery, born November 30, 1874, was raised by her maternal grandparents Alexander and Lucy Macneill, in their old-fashioned Cavendish farmhouse in Prince Edward Island, Canada. That was her home from 1876 to 1911. It was there where she wrote her first novel in 1908 and procured immediate international acclaim: “A different environment,” she said, “would have given a different bias. Were it not for those Cavendish years, I do not think Anne of Green Gables would ever have been written.”
Perhaps no other Canadian literary character is more famous or has captured more hearts than Lucy Maud Montgomery’s red-haired girl Anne Shirley. Pulled into many predicaments by her romantic imagination and daring streak, Anne Shirley unvaribly emerges more humble, yet wiser and more determined to follow her own path. From an abandoned and lonely girl, Anne grows into a confident and responsible young women who retains the passion of her youth and love of her childhood home, at Green Gables.
Designed by Canadian artist Phoebe Gilman, the reverse of the coin depicts a young girl sitting under a gazebo, daydreaming about adventure and life in the Prince Edward Island countryside, inspired by the Anne of Green Gables novel. The obverse features the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, by Dora de Pedery-Hunt.
In summary, it is primarily when a person is seated and relaxing in a place they like to be that they ponder and formulate their dreams. Oftentimes they will receive the encouragement they need to pursue their dreams while reading a good book. Although first published in 1908, the book “Anne of Green Gables” still stirs the imaginations of young girls today. This then is the lasting legacy of “Anne of Green Gables” and the “message” in the imagery of this coin that resides in my seated imagery collection.
To the left side of this month’s photo collage is a picture of Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery and her book. To the right is a picture from the Public Television series of Anne Shirley, the main character of “Anne of Green Gables.”