The National Hockey League is a century old and Canada celebrates with a silver coin
One of the core North American sports, although very popular in central and eastern Europe as well, Ice Hockey is a contact team sport played on an ice rink. The sports governing body is the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), but like football, there are bodies in 76 countries, the most famous of which is the National Hockey League – the NHL.
Formed on 26 November 1917, the NHL has seen the fast-paced sport grow to the point where the Stanley Cup tournament is one of the most popular sporting events in the New World. Canada has a strong and long association with the sport. Canadian rules from the turn of the twentieth century formed the basis for the modern sport and the first indoor game took place in Montreal in 1875. The first four teams in the NHL were Canadian and of the 31 teams in the modern NHL, 7 are based in Canada, so it’s no surprise that they’ve issued a commemorative coin to celebrate.
Struck in 1½ ounces of fine silver, this new rectangular coin depicts a terrific view of a goal from the view of a net camera, even showing the distortion you’d expect from the perspective created by an ultra-wide angle lens. The centenary logo of the NHL is placed to the left and right, with the anniversay dates at top and the denomination below. It’s a great design, although we’d love to have seen the central art take up more of this face than it does.
The obverse is the usual Susanna Blunt effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, but the fine ‘goal-net’ pattern from the reverse ios carried through to this face to liven things up a little. Packaged in the usual maroon snapper coin box, just 6,000 of these will be minted. Given the sports popularity, that isn’t a massive number. Available to buy now, the coin sells for $139.95 CAD and will start shipping from the 7th.
2017 CENTENARY OF THE NHL SILVER COIN
MINTS DESCRIPTION
More than a milestone, the National Hockey League’s centennial is a celebration of 100 years of history that have made our winter sport what it is today. This rectangular coin’s unique shape provides the ideal canvas for our tribute to the NHL®, while the design places you right at the heart of the action: in the net. An outstanding number of engraved details capture the arena setting and the mood as a player shoots—and scores!
DESIGN: Designed by Canadian artist Julius Csotonyi, your rectangular shaped coin celebrates 100 years of National Hockey League history through a moment that conveys the excitement of the game. The unique “net camera” perspective places the viewer at the very heart of the fast-paced action on the ice, where several hockey players have rushed towards the crease.
On the left, a player’s stick is still raised after taking the shot, which proves to be successful as the puck soars past the collapsing goaltender. From the net to the overhead scoreboard, highly detailed engraving brings the setting to life while capturing the mood, as two distant teammates raise their arms to celebrate the goal. Framing the reverse are the engraved commemorative dates “1917 – 2017” and the face value “20 DOLLARS”, along with the NHL’s Centennial logo in both official languages.
PACKAGING: Encapsulated and presented in a Royal Canadian Mint-branded maroon clamshell with a black beauty box.
SPECIFICATION
| NAME | 2017 NHL CENTENARY |
| DENOMINATION | $25 Canadian |
| COMPOSITION | 0.999 silver |
| WEIGHT | 47.35 grams |
| DIMENSIONS | 49.8 x 28.6 mm |
| FINISH | Proof |
| MODIFICATIONS | None |
| MINTAGE | 6,000 |
| BOX / COA | Yes / Yes |
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