Obverse. Photo © NumisCorner.com
  • 25 Cents 1973, KM# 81, Canada, Elizabeth II, 100th Anniversary of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
  • 25 Cents 1973, KM# 81, Canada, Elizabeth II, 100th Anniversary of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
  • 25 Cents 1973, KM# 81, Canada, Elizabeth II, 100th Anniversary of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Large and Small Bust Varieties
Description

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP, colloquially known as the "Mounties", and internally as the "Force") is the federal and national police force of Canada. The RCMP provides law enforcement at the federal level. Despite the name, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is no longer an actual mounted police force, with horses only being used at ceremonial events.

A special coin was designed to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the North-West Mounted Police, which was later renamed to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

For the obverse side, Arnold Machin used a smaller, more detailed effigy of the Queen, and fewer rim beads placed farther from the rim. Early in the 1973 minting process, a 1972 obverse die (with the larger bust and rim beads closer to the rim) was accidentally used to produce these coins. It is thought that approximately 10,000 of these "Large Bust" coins were struck.

Obverse

Second crowned portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II facing right, wearing the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara.

The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara was a wedding present in 1947 from her grandmother, Queen Mary, who received it as a gift from the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland in 1893 on the occasion of her marriage to the Duke of York, later George V. Made by E. Wolfe & Co., it was purchased from Garrard & Co. by a committee organised by Lady Eve Greville. In 1914, Mary adapted the tiara to take 13 diamonds in place of the large oriental pearls surmounting the tiara. At first, Elizabeth wore the tiara without its base and pearls but the base was reattached in 1969. The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara is one of Elizabeth's most recognisable pieces of jewellery due to its widespread use on British banknotes and coinage.

ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA means Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, Queen.

Engraver: Arnold Machin

ELIZABETH II D·G·REGINA

Reverse

A mounted RCMP officer (mountie) with a standard is surrounded by the facial value, the country name and the dates.

The standard rim denticles were replaced by a row of dots around the rim.

Engraver: Paul Cedarberg

C A N A D A
25
CENTS
MP
1873 1973
PC B

Edge
Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Circulating)
Material Nickel
Weight 5.05 g
Diameter 23.88 mm
Thickness 1.6 mm
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Alt # KM# PL24, KM# SS58, KM# PL25, KM# SS59, KM# 81.1, KM# 81.2
Mint
Royal Canadian Mint (RCM)

Related coins

Silver, 5.81 g, ⌀ 23.62 mm
Without DEI GRATIA

Silver, 5.83 g, ⌀ 23.62 mm

Silver, 5.83 g, ⌀ 23.62 mm