1 Dollar In the name of George VI, Anniversary of VE Day

VE Day — 8 May 1945 — marked the end of the war in Europe, but Canada's role in reaching that point was substantial enough to warrant its own accounting: over a million Canadians served, and the country's industrial output, including the so-called "Arsenal of Democracy" contributions, had been critical since 1939. The 75th anniversary issue in 2020 arrived in a year when public commemorations were largely cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, lending the coin an odd documentary function — marking a celebration that couldn't happen.

George VI's name appears on the obverse despite his death in 1952; the coin's legal-tender status under his name is a deliberate historical framing choice by the RCM rather than an error.