2023 Canadian Commemorative Collector Keepsake Card - National Indigenous Peoples Day

2023 Canadian Commemorative Collector Keepsake Card - National Indigenous Peoples Day

In celebration of National Indigenous Peoples Day, the 2023 commemorative $2 circulation coin combines the art of Megan Currie, English River First Nation, Myrna Pokiak (Agnaviak), Inuvialuit Settlement Region and Jennine Krauchi, Red River Métis. Their joint creation stunningly combines their expressions of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis cultures, art and traditions and is an open invitation to celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day. You’ll find two of these commemorative $2 circulation coins — one with colour and one without — inside each Commemorative Collector Keepsake Card, where the coins appear alongside the artists’ words about their art and personal connection to National Indigenous Peoples Day.

One Keepsake Card gives you two commemorative $2 circulation coins — one with colour and one without.

Features:

A beautiful celebration.National Indigenous Peoples Day (June 21) celebrates the diverse cultures and outstanding achievements of First Nations, Inuit and Métis; this coin is an open-ended invitation to learn more about the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis cultures, traditions and heritages that inspired its creation.
A unique collaboration. As the creative voices of their distinct identities and experiences, three artists worked together to create a powerful, combined design – a first for a circulation coin.
A rarity in 2023. Each Keepsake Card also gives you 2023-dated versions of $2, $1, 25¢, 10¢, 5¢ coins — a rarity in a year when these are only available as non-circulation coins (legal tender but not intended for general circulation).
All are uncirculated coins. These coins have never been circulated: they all have a newly minted quality.
Collect, keep and share. With 50,000 available and priced at just $24.95, this Keepsake Card is a great addition to any collection. It’s also an affordable introductory piece that makes it easy to share your interest in the theme, or in coin-collecting, with others.

Design

The $2 coin’s reverse features a collection of visual elements on the inner core and outer ring, where they form expressions of Indigenous identities and cultures, as designed by Megan Currie, English River First Nation, Myrna Pokiak (Agnaviak), Inuvialuit Settlement Region and Jennine Krauchi, Red River Métis.. The obverse features the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt. The obverse also bears a special marking that includes four pearls symbolizing the four effigies that have graced Canadian coins and the double date of her reign.

The rich expressions of cultures,  traditions, and heritages that make up the design are drawn from a variety of inspirational sources, each unique to the artist. The artists have each shared their sources of inspiration, their connection to National Indigenous Peoples Day, and their objective for the design:

The seven phases of Grandmother Moon, represents our past, present and future. The central flower contains a figure raising a child, honouring our children. The forget-me-not flowers’ five petals hold space for: our peoples’ genocide, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, Residential Day and Boarding Schools, Sixties Scoop survivors, and our veterans. The outside flowers contain a rising sun, signifying a new day. The four berries remind us to honour and thank Mother Earth for her gifts of medicine and food. The butterflies symbolize transformation, metamorphosis and balance, a reminder that we need to live a balanced life.
Megan Currie (English River First Nation) – Artist and Creative Director of X-ing Design

One of my favourite days of the year is June 21ˢᵗ, which is a day to celebrate Indigenous peoples under the 24-hour sun. It is a day of celebration for Dene, Métis and Inuit who can drum and dance freely, laugh amongst family, friends, and strangers, enjoy traditional foods from the land, sea and sky, while feeling proud, reflecting, and feeling hope for our future. My three girls are Inuvialuit, Gwich’in (Dene) and Métis, and like my girls, the overall design is symbolic of being stronger together, which is what National Indigenous Peoples Day means to me.
Myrna Pokiak (Agnaviak) – Inuvialuk Artist from Tuktoyaktuk in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region

These symbols encapsulate the culture and heritage of the Red River Métis. The Red River cart proudly flying our Infinity flag, carrying people to a community gathering to the sounds of laughter and fiddlers playing. Everyone dressed in their finest attire; beautifully beaded jackets with sashes of many colours wrapped around their waists. And that special pair of moccasins, which would be worn out from jigging before the festivities were done. In this, one finds a great sense of pride, of joy, of celebration for the Métis people who love embracing such occasions as National Indigenous Peoples Day.
Jennine Krauchi – Red River Métis Artist

Packaging:

Your coins come packaged in a colourful, informative, ready-to-display collector card.

Specifications:

Face Value: Set - Includes one of each $2, $1, 25-cents, 10-cents, 5-cents coins. Also includes one coloured & uncolored special $2 coins.
Mintage: 50,000
Composition: Outer ring: Three-ply nickel-plated steel; Inner core: Three-ply brass-plated aluminum bronze with selective colour
Weight (g): 6.99
Diameter(mm): 28
Finish: BU