The 1977 commemorative Silver Dollar (SD) from the Royal Canadian Mint marked the 25th Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ascension/accession to the throne. The SD was released in March 1977.
Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne of the United Kingdom (UK) upon the death of her father, King George VI, on February 6, 1952. Elizabeth was 25 at the time; King George VI was 56. When Elizabeth II became Queen of the UK, she also became the Queen of the Commonwealth, of which Canada is a member.
During her Silver Jubilee year, QEII visited Canada, with Prince Phillip, in October. The Royal itinerary included a stop in Ottawa, Ontario where she attended the opening of the 3rd Session of the 30th Canadian Parliament and gave the Throne Speech; the Royal Couple also made a brief visit to Quebec.
Note: The Throne Speech "introduces the government's direction and goals, and outlines how it will work to achieve them." (Privy Council Office, Government of Canada.)The SD's commemorative reverse depicts the Throne of the Senate (in Ottawa); with "CANADA" above and "DOLLAR" below. Flanking the Throne are the inscriptions "THRONE OF THE SENATE" (English) and "LE TRÔNE DU SÉNAT" (French). Raymond Lee was the designer; Ago Arand performed the engraving. The Throne of the Senate is located in the Senate Chamber of the Canadian Parliament (at least when the the Center Block is not undergoing renovations). It is meant for the Monarch and Royal Consort (Monarch's spouse), but it more often used by Canada's Governor General and Viceregal Consort (spouse) as the Monarch is not often in attendance.)
The obverse features the right-facing portrait of Queen Elizabeth II (with Tiara) by Arnold Machin. "Elizabeth II" is above the portrait; the dual dates "1952-1977" are below. The inscription "SILVER JUBILEE" (English) flanks to the left, with "JUBÍLÉ D'ARGENT" (French) to the right.
Note: Raymond Lee was also the designer of the $100 Gold commemorative coin for QEII's Silver Jubilee.The SD's planchet has a composition of 0.500 Silver and 0.500 Copper. Its diameter is the traditional (for Canada) 36.07 millimeters, and its weight is 23.3276 grams. The coin has a reeded/serrated edge; it was struck in medal alignment (i.e., the obverse and reverse are in the same orientation vs. facing opposite directions).
Mintage for the QEII Silver Jubilee SD was, as in previous years, set to the number of orders received. Its final order total/mintage came to 744,848; a nice uptick from the 483,722 figure for the 1976 Library of Parliament SD. The Issue Price for the Silver Jubilee SD was $4.25 (CAD)
The SD was encapsulated and placed in a black styrene frame which was subsequently inserted into a black clamshell case with a red/maroon interior. The case was inserted into a white cardboard outer sleeve with the Coat-of-Arms of Canada printed in orange on its top panel.
1977 Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee
1977 Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee - Clamshell Case
(Image Credit: Royal Canadian Mint. Media Image.)1977 Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee - Outer Sleeve
(Image Credit: Royal Canadian Mint. Media Image.)The 1977 Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee SD is generally available for sale in today's marketplace. As with other SDs off the era, I would suggest seeking out an example that is unimpaired and includes its original packaging - such a coin shouldn't be that difficult to locate.
For more of my topics on commemorative coins and medals, including more Canadian commemorative stories, see:
Commems Collection.
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Posted 02/20/2025 2:23 pm
), but is another case that sometimes is available with a 1977 QEII Silver Jubilee commemorative Silver Dollar.
