Much as her iconic character Anne of Green Gables is immortalized in literature, Prince Edward Island author Lucy Maud Montgomery is now forever etched into metal.
Royal Canadian Mint officials and Montgomery descendants were at Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, P.E.I., on Wednesday to unveil a new $1 coin bearing her likeness and that of her most famous character, redheaded orphan Anne (with an E) Shirley.
The artwork on the coin was created by Island artist Brenda Jones, featuring a profile of the author as she would have looked around the time Anne of Green Gables was written, Montgomery’s signature, and the cat drawing she often included when signing her name.
Montgomery is the first Canadian author to be featured on a coin. It will begin circulating on June 27 to mark the 150th centennial of her birth.
“It’s such a story that’s important to be told,” said Marie Lemay, president and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint. “To have P.E.I. artists design this coin and we can engrave in a piece of metal the story, and it will move on from hands to hands, coast to coast for a long, long time… we’re very proud of that.
“It just seemed so fitting that we would have our first author on a coin on the 150th anniversary of L.M. Montgomery. For us it was a no-brainer. We thought it was such a nice opportunity.”
Montgomery was born in Clifton, P.E.I., in 1874. She would end up seeing hundreds of her short stories and poems published in addition to her 20 novels, which include the widely celebrated Anne of Green Gables series as well as the Emily of New Moon books and one-offs such The Blue Castle.
The author eventually settled in Toronto, where she died in 1942, after which her body was returned to the Island and laid to rest in the Cavendish Cemetery.
The $1 coins unveiled Wednesday will be limited to a circulation of three million, which includes two million colorized versions show the red Island soil, green farm fields and a blue sky.
‘I think she would be so proud’
Jones’s design for the coin depicts Montgomery putting pen to paper, with her gaze flowing to a pigtailed girl looking out over P.E.I.’s rural landscape, the setting for many of the author’s stories. The other side features a likeness of King Charles III by another Canadian artist, Steven Rosati.
“[Montgomery’s] vivid tales of her amazing, beautiful home province helped all of Canada discover, be aware of Prince Edward Island, and have helped the world discover and be aware of and come visit Prince Edward Island,” said Canada’s finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, who also attended the unveiling in Cavendish.
Collectors can contact the Royal Canadian Mint to order one of the coins. There’s also an opportunity to exchange your cash for the special loonies on Friday at the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown.
Given they’ll be such collectors items, Lemay advises hanging onto one, however you’re able to get your hands on it.
“If you see one, keep it,” she said.
One of Montgomery’s grandchildren who attended Wednesday’s unveiling said she’s happy with how the coin turned out. She thinks her grandmother would have been proud, too.
“I think that they have depicted Prince Edward Island with the colour of the … green field and the red soil and the sky — it’s just beautiful and they’ve really done a tribute to Prince Edward Island,” said Kate Macdonald Butler, who’s also president of the Heirs of L.M. Montgomery, a family-owned company that works to preserve Montgomery’s legacy.
“I think she would be so proud to be acknowledged and remembered in this way.”