The third coin in the Royal Canadian Mint’s Great Explorers series highlights the famous explorer Samuel de Champlain; his full-length portrait rendered in exceptional detail in 99.99% pure gold.

Though there is no known confirmed portrait of Champlain, your coin image presents him as he is frequently portrayed in artistic depictions, with long dark hair, long moustache and trimmed beard, sporting a feathered cap and the jacket, hose, and pantaloons of the era. In his right hand, Champlain carries his astrolabe, famously thought to have been lost on a portage through the Calumet rapids near Cobden, Ontario—though this story has been largely discredited. In his left, he holds a notebook, which is believed to have held his maps and drawings. He looks toward the left of the image as he steps forward, his back turned to the waterway and distant tree-lined shore behind him. Just behind this portrait and to the left is Champlain’s birch-bark canoe, replete with supplies and paddles. On the left side of the image, a First Nations guide stands before his own canoe. His long hair sports two feathers and he wears a buckskin loincloth, footwear, and arm straps, and holds a paddle in his right hand. His canoe, like Champlain’s, is filled with supplies.

The Great Explorers Series heralds Canada’s sesquicentennial celebrations in 2017 by featuring the explorers who set this land on its historical path to becoming the nation now known as Canada.

A beautiful and memorable design depicts Champlain at a key moment in his exploration of Canada, while also highlighting the fundamental role and importance of Aboriginal people in Canada in the country’s history and origins.

Coin was designed by Canadian artist Glen Green and depicts Samuel de Champlain and a First Nations guide disembarking from birch bark canoes on a rugged shoreline in Ontario.

Сountry: Canada
Data of issue: January 2014
Face value: 200 Dollar
Metal: Gold .999
Weight: 15,43 g
Diameter: 29 mm
Quality: Proof
Mintage: 2000 pcs