Griffon…..

Afternoon everyone….

My sneaky pirate north of the boarder @kerrislravenhill is a ship coin hound such as myself. While I know that she has at least one of this coin, I’m pretty sure though it’s more than just one since after all it is a Canadian coin from her homeland.

While the coin is not overly expensive, and there are plenty of them circulating around. The coin was not intended for circulation when minted. They are a special mint proof coin. There are just over 688,000 of these per the Canadian Mint website.

The coin I am writing about is a 1979 Griffon Tercentenary coin. This example happens to be an NGC graded SP69. It’s crazy shiny and was extremely difficult to take pictures of.

Here is some info on the coin from Numista….

Features
Issuer Canada
Queen Elizabeth II (1952-2022)
Type Non-circulating coin
Year 1979
Value 1 Dollar
1 CAD = USD 0.73
Currency Dollar (1858-date)
Composition Silver (.500)
Weight 23.3276 g
Diameter 36 mm
Thickness 2.66 mm
Shape Round
Technique Milled
Orientation Medal alignment ↑↑
Number N#16315
References Ch# RC-808, KM# 124
Commemorative issue
300th Anniversary of the Griffon

Obverse
Bust of Queen Elizabeth II, as at 37 years of age, wearing tiara, facing right.

Script: Latin

Lettering: ELIZABETH II D·G·REGINA

Unabridged legend: ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA

Translation: Elizabeth II Queen by the grace of God

Designer: Arnold Machin

Reverse
The griffon, first ship that sailed the great lakes, sailing to the right, denomination and dates around.

Script: Latin

Lettering:
DOLLAR CANADA
1679 GRIFFON 1979

Engraver: T. Smith

Designer: Walter Schluep

Edge
Milled

Mint
Royal Canadian Mint of Ottawa, Canada (1908-date)

And now for the coin…