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20 Dollars - Elizabeth II R.M.S. Empress of Ireland
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 2014 |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Reverse description | The reverse, designed by Canadian maritime artist John Horton, presents a dramatic and atmospherically rendered scene depicting the moments before the sinking of the RMS Empress of Ireland on May 29, 1914. Selective color application recreates the dense fog rolling in from the St. Lawrence River coast, rendered in the engraved background, while the central image field employs vibrant polychrome enamel to evoke the shrouding mist between the two vessels. Emerging from the right of the composition, the shadowy bow of the Norwegian collier Storstad is depicted bearing down on the starboard side of the Empress of Ireland, whose stern and distinctive twin funnels remain partially visible above the fogbank. The artist's monogram JH appears in the lower field, and the legends 20 DOLLARS, CANADA, and the date 2014 are inscribed along the lower periphery. |
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| Edge | Lettered |
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| Additional information |
The Empress of Ireland sank in the St. Lawrence River on May 29, 1914, after a collision with the Norwegian collier Storstad in dense fog — killing 1,012 of the 1,477 people aboard. The death toll exceeded that of the Titanic in percentage terms, yet the disaster was almost immediately overshadowed by the outbreak of the First World War three months later, consigning it to a peculiar historical obscurity disproportionate to its scale.
This issue appeared in the centenary year of the sinking.