Obverse. Photo © Monetnik.ru
  • 1 Dollar 2023, Canada, Charles III, Elsie MacGill
  • 1 Dollar 2023, Canada, Charles III, Elsie MacGill
Description

The RCM on Aug. 1 launched the new coin to honour a pioneering Canadian engineer, Elsie MacGill.

Elizabeth Muriel Gregory MacGill (1905–1980), known as the "Queen of the Hurricanes", was the world's first woman to earn an aeronautical engineering degree and was the first woman in Canada to receive a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. She worked as an aeronautical engineer during the Second World War and did much to make Canada a powerhouse of aircraft construction during her years at Canadian Car and Foundry (CC&F) in Fort William, Ontario. After her work at CC&F, she ran a successful consulting business.

Responsible for many firsts as a woman studying and practising engineering, she was celebrated for setting up the Canadian production of the Hawker Hurricane fighter plane during World War II. Her lifelong advocacy for women’s rights included her appointment to the Royal Commission on the Status of Women, in 1967.

As the new King Charles III dies were not yet ready for this coin set, all the obverse designs feature a posthumous effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II with the addition of the double dates of her reign, 1952-2022.

Obverse

Fourth portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II, when she was 77 years old, facing right and surrounded by the inscription. Below, the four pearls symbolise the four effigies that have graced Canadian coins and the double date of her reign.

Dei Gratia Regina (often abbreviated to D. G. Regina and seen as D·G·REGINA) is a Latin title meaning By the Grace of God, Queen.

Engraver: Susanna Blunt

ELIZABETH II 2023 D•G•REGINA
SB
1952 2022

Reverse

Depicts Elsie MacGill grasping a pair of rolled-up blueprints in her hands, while the Maple Leaf Trainer II aircraft soars above her. Adjacent to her stands Hawker Hurricane fighter planes produced for the Allied forces during World War II—a testament to her pivotal role as the chief engineer at Canadian Car and Foundry in Fort William, Ontario.

Within her tenure at Canadian Car and Foundry, Elsie became the first woman in the world to design an aircraft—the Maple Leaf Trainer II.

Throughout the course of World War II, Elsie provided oversight for the manufacturing of over 1,450 Hawker Hurricane aircraft, a feat that led to her being affectionately referred to as the "Queen of the Hurricanes."

Elsie MacGill proudly sports a lapel pin from the Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs, an organization she belonged to and eventually assumed leadership positions as both provincial and national president.

Additionally, she wears an engineer's Iron Ring, symbolizing her pioneering accomplishment as the first woman to be elected to the Engineering Institute of Canada in 1938. The Iron Ring is a ring worn by many Canadian-trained engineers, as a symbol and reminder of the obligations and ethics associated with their profession. The concept of the ritual and the rings originated from H. E. T. Haultain in 1922.

Engraver: Claire Watson

CANADA
ELSIE MACGILL
CW
DOLLAR

Edge
Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Non-circulating)
Material Brass Plated Steel
Weight 6.27 g
Diameter 26.5 mm
Thickness 1.95 mm
Shape polygon
Sides 11
Alignment Medal
Alt # RCM# 208337
Mint
Royal Canadian Mint (RCM)

Related coins

Transition obverse

Elsie MacGill

Brass Plated Steel, 6.27 g, ⌀ 26.5 mm