1 Dollar In the name of George VI; VE Day

Issued in 2020 to mark the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, this coin commemorates May 8, 1945 — the moment Germany's unconditional surrender formally ended the war in Europe. George VI, whose reign had begun inauspiciously with the abdication crisis of 1936, ultimately became a steady wartime figure, remaining in London with his family throughout the Blitz rather than evacuating as many officials urged.

The denomination and George VI obverse tie it deliberately to the currency Canadians actually spent during the war years, a choice that grounds the commemoration in material reality rather than abstraction.