Item: i85476

Authentic Coin of:

Canada under Elizabeth II - Queen: 6 February 1952–present
400 Year Anniversary of Quebec with Samuel Champlain
2008 Deep Proof-like Silver Dollar 36.07mm (25.175 grams) 0.925 Silver (0.5961 oz. ASW)
Reference: KM# 785
Certification: NGC  MS 69 DPL (Deep Proof-like) 2845077-003
ELIZABETH II D · G · REGINA, Effigy of Queen Elizabeth II facing right.
CANADA DOLLAR 1608 - 2008, Portrait of Samuel de Champlain with an early settlement of what is now Québec city in the background. The St. Lawrence river can also be seen with ships on it. Fleur de Lysées between text.

Coin Notes:
Designed by Suzanne Duranceau, it features a portrait of Samuel de Champlain with the "habitation" he built at the foot of Cap-aux-Diamants at Kebec (now Quebec City) in the background.  The boats on the water underscore the importance of the St. Lawrence to the city's position as the gateway to North America.
The coin was issued with two finishes: proof, and brilliant uncirculated.
 (Your coin is Proof)

You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.

Echoes of History - Celebrating the 400th Anniversary of Quebec City (1608-2008)

      In 1608, Samuel de Champlain landed on the shores of the St. Lawrence River at a place the Algonquin people called Kebek.  "Where the river narrows" was a popular spot where they came to fish and barter.
     For nearly one hundred years prior, the French had tried to get a foothold on this part of the New World, b ut were outmatched by scury, harsh winters and hostile natives.  Now, as Champlain surveyed this strategic point on the river, its natural harbor and aboriginal presence, he knew it was the ideal location for a fur trading post.
     Champlain's first habitation was a residence, warehouse and fort combined, complete with cannons, a palisade of wood stakes , a moat and a drawbridge.  Within the year, it was a bustling enterprise where First Nations people came to trade furs for European goods.
     As ships sailed the ocean and canoes paddled up and down river, Kebec became a bustling maritime city, the third largest in North America.  By the mid 1800's it was a major outlet for lumber and soon added wheat to tis exports.  but the city's unique character attracted more than industry.  Two hundred years ago, wealthy tourists were already writing about this "masterpiece of art and nature" in their memoirs.
     Now as the only walled city in North America celebrates its 400th year, visitors have an enviable opportunity to literally step into the past and listen to the echoes of history within its walls.

Samuel de Champlain (about 13 August 1567 - 25 December 1635) was a French colonist, navigator, cartographer, draftsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He made between 21 and 29 trips across the Atlantic Ocean, and founded Quebec, and New France, on 3 July 1608. An important figure in Canadian history, Champlain created the first accurate coastal map during his explorations, and founded various colonial settlements.

Born into a family of mariners, Champlain began exploring North America in 1603, under the guidance of his uncle, François Gravé Du Pont. After 1603, Champlain's life and career consolidated into the path he would follow for the rest of his life. From 1604 to 1607, he participated in the exploration and settlement of the first permanent European settlement north of Florida, Port Royal, Acadia (1605), as well as the first European settlement that would become Saint John, New Brunswick (1604). In 1608, he established the French settlement that is now Quebec City. Champlain was the first European to describe the Great Lakes, and published maps of his journeys and accounts of what he learned from the natives and the French living among the Natives. He formed relationships with local Montagnais and Innu, and, later, with others farther west-tribes of the (Ottawa River, Lake Nipissing, and Georgian Bay), and with Algonquin and Wendat; he also agreed to provide assistance in the Beaver Wars against the Iroquois. Late in the year of 1615, Champlain returned to the Wendat and stayed with them over the winter, which permitted him to make the first ethnographic observations of this important nation, the events of which form the bulk of his book Voyages et Descovvertvres faites en la Novvelle France, depuis l'année 1615 published in 1619.

In 1620, Louis XIII of France ordered Champlain to cease exploration, return to Quebec, and devote himself to the administration of the country. In every way but formal title, Samuel de Champlain served as Governor of New France, a title that may have been formally unavailable to him owing to his non-noble status.^{[Note 5]} He established trading companies that sent goods, primarily fur, to France, and oversaw the growth of New France in the St. Lawrence River valley until his death, in 1635.

Champlain is memorialized as the "Father of New France" and "Father of Acadia", with many places, streets, and structures in northeastern North America bearing his name, most notably Lake Champlain.

Canada is a country, consisting of ten provinces and three territories, in the northern part of the continent of North America. It extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres (3.85 million square miles) in total, making it the world's second-largest country by total area and the fourth-largest country by land area. Canada's common border with the United States forms the world's longest land border. Canada is sparsely populated overall, the majority of its land territory being dominated by forest and tundra as well as the mountain range of the Rocky Mountains; about four-fifths of the population live near to the southern border. The majority of Canada has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer.

The land now called Canada has been inhabited for millennia by various Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French colonies were established on the region's Atlantic coast. As a consequence of various conflicts, the United Kingdom gained and lost North American territories until left, in the late 18th century, with what mostly comprises Canada today. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1, 1867, three colonies joined to form the autonomous federal Dominion of Canada. This began an accretion of provinces and territories to the new self-governing Dominion. In 1931, Britain granted Canada near total independence with the Statute of Westminster 1931 and full sovereignty was attained when the Canada Act 1982 severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.

Canada is a federal parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, Queen Elizabeth II being the current head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries, with a population of approximately 35 million as of 2015. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade networks. Canada's long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture.

Canada is a developed country and one of the wealthiest in the world, with the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally, and the eighth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, and education. Canada is a Commonwealth Realm member of the Commonwealth of Nations, a member of the Francophonie, and part of several major international and intergovernmental institutions or groupings including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the G8, the Group of Ten, the G20, the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.