Obverse. Photo © Heritage Auctions
  • 25 Cents 1948-1952, KM# 44, Canada, George VI
  • 25 Cents 1948-1952, KM# 44, Canada, George VI
  • 25 Cents 1948-1952, KM# 44, Canada, George VI, 1951-1952 Varieties: High Relief (HR) and Low Relief (LR)
Description

In an attempt to improve the appearance of the obverse on this coin, a slightly larger, lower relief portrait was developed and used on the coins from 1951-1952. The two varieties, High Relief (HR) and Low Relief (LR) can be distinguished by looking at where the 'A' in 'GRATIA' points:

HR: 'A' points to a denticle
LR: 'A' points between two denticles

Obverse

Bare head of George VI facing left, surrounded by the legend, an abbreviated translation of “George VI by the Grace of God, King and Emperor of India”.

George VI (1895–1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death. He was the last Emperor of India and the first Head of the Commonwealth.

As the second son of King George V, he was not expected to inherit the throne and spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother, Edward. George's elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII upon the death of their father in 1936. However, later that year Edward revealed his desire to marry divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin advised Edward that for political and religious reasons he could not marry a divorced woman and remain king. Edward abdicated in order to marry, and George ascended the throne as the third monarch of the House of Windsor.

Engraver: Thomas Humphrey Paget

GEORGIVS VI DEI GRATIA REX
HP

Reverse

A caribou is accompanied by the facial value and the country name. Engraver's initials below.

The reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), also known as the caribou in North America, is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, sub-Arctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. What was once the second-largest herd is the migratory boreal woodland caribou George River herd in Canada, with former variations between 28,000 and 385,000. The North American range of caribou extends from Alaska through Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut into the boreal forest and south through the Canadian Rockies and the Columbia and Selkirk Mountains.

Arctic peoples have depended on caribou for food, clothing, and shelter, such as the Caribou Inuit, the inland-dwelling Inuit of the Kivalliq Region in northern Canada, the Caribou Clan in Yukon, the Inupiat, the Inuvialuit, the Hän, the Northern Tutchone, and the Gwich'in (who followed the Porcupine caribou for millennia).

Male and female reindeer can grow antlers annually, although the proportion of females that grow antlers varies greatly between population and season. Antlers are typically larger on males. In traditional festive legend, Santa Claus's reindeer pull a sleigh through the night sky to help Santa Claus deliver gifts to good children on Christmas Eve.

Engraver: Emanuel Hahn

CANADA 1949
25
cents
H

Edge

25 Cents

KM# 44 Schön# 43
Characteristics
Material Silver
Fineness 0.800
Weight 5.83 g
Diameter 23.62 mm
Thickness -
Shape round
Alignment Medal
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