ARTICLE PROFILES CANADIAN COIN DESIGNER JOHN HORTON

One of Canada’s most notable marine artists has produced two more commemorative coins for the Royal Canadian Mint.

Tsawwassen’s John Horton sketched the design for the coins after the Mint put out a request for submissions earlier in the year.

The first coin is 40mm in diameter and commemorates the 300th Anniversary of the French Fortress of Louisbourg, a National Historic Site of Canada located on Cape Breton Island.

The second one depicts a naval battle between the HMS Shannon and the USS Chesapeake during the War of 1812. The Battle of Boston Harbor was actually fought on June 1, 1813, during which time the American ship was captured and 252 men killed or wounded in a bloody 15-minute-long cannon battle between the powerful frigates.

“They’re fun to do,” said Horton about sketching the coin designs. “They’re really challenging because you’re sometimes dealing with history you don’t know too much about. The fun part is researching the history.”

As a Western artist he said he’s more familiar with the naval history of this region. His series of paintings depicting Captain George Vancouver’s voyages from 1792-94 are world renowned.

In 1996 Horton won a bid to sketch a design for the Tall Ships Collection and his artwork “the catch” appears on one of the coins in that collection.

A fourth coin for the Mint is now in the works for release in 2014, but for reasons of confidentiality with the Crown corporation he can’t reveal what it will be.

Horton said it takes roughly three weeks to sketch a design for the Mint, followed by consultations and tweaking for the final product.

To read the complete article, see: Local artist’s work adorns Canadian Mint’s new coin (www.southdeltaleader.com/community/214306921.html)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web