Sunday, 8 March 2020

1264) The "Kraken", Canada: First Coin in a new Coin Series titled - "Creatures of the North": A two Oz. Silver Bullion Coin kick-starts the Coin Series:

1264) The "Kraken", Canada: First Coin in a new Coin Series titled - "Creatures of the North": A two Oz. Silver Bullion Coin kick-starts the Coin Series:
The Reverse of the 10 Dollar Silver coin, placed against the background of a two-masted vessel being attacked by the Kraken. Its crew is taking to life-boats in an attempt to save themselves from the monster

The Reverse of the 10 Dollars Silver Coin placed against the background of a dark cloud covered sky, enhancing the fear of the Kraken emerging from the seas. The banner is titled - "CREATURES OF THE NORTH - KRAKEN" (the Coin Series Theme)
This banner shows the Obverse and Reverse of the 10 Dollars Silver Coin, with the Kraken looming large in the background, splashing/spraying water. The banner is titled - "KRAKEN - THE 1st RELEASE FROM THE ALL-NEW CREATURES OF THE NORTH SERIES".

The legend of the Kraken:

A legend of the Norse Saga/Scandinavian folklore - the Kraken is a gigantic sea creature with a cephalopod-like body form that is said to dwell off the coasts of Norway and Greenland. It is able to attack sailor and even ships and has terrorised sailors for centuries. The Kraken has been an inspiration for many literary works, including Jules Verne.

 The obvious inspiration for the legend is an actual living creature - the Giant Squid, easily able to exceed 15.0 metres in length, with rumours of even larger individuals. It would take the sighting of only one exceptionally large specimen to start a legend that would last through the centuries - tales told by sailors and sea-farers.

The Kraken has been the focus of many superstitious sailors passing the North Atlantic, particularly sailors from the Nordic countries, due to their proximity and the legend's Scandinavian origin.

The legend originated from the Greenland sea, where the sightings were believed to have taken place first. 

 The word "Kraken" derives from Scandinavian languages, specifically the word "Krake" - meaning an "unhealthy animal". A similar word in German means "octopus" and is a euphemism for "whale" in Old Swedish.

The reported sightings and conclusions drawn over the ages:

In the late 13th Century version of the Old Icelandic saga "Orvar-Oddr" is an episode of a journey bound for Helluland (Baffin Island), where, while travelling through the Greenland Sea- two massive sea-monsters called - "Hafgufa" ("Sea-mist") and "Lyngbakr" ("Heather-back"), which are said to be Kraken monsters.

In 1735, the Swedish naturalist - Carl von Linne included the Kraken in the first edition of its systematic natural catalog- "Systema Naturae".

In 1752, Erik Pontoppidan, Bishop of Bergen, in his book "Det forste Forsag paa Norges naturlige Historie" ("The First Attempt at Natural History of Norway" - Copenhagen) made several claims regarding the Kraken, including the notion that the creature was sometimes mistaken for an island and that the real danger to sailors was not the creature, but, rather the whirlpool left in its wake.

 He also added that if the creature's arms got a hold of the largest Man-of-War (ship), it would pull it down to the bottom.

He even mentioned that a specimen of the monster was washed ashore and died at Alsatahaug in 1680.

By 1755, Pontoppidan's description of the Kraken had been translated into English.

In 1781, Swedish author Jacob Wallenberg described the Kraken in his book "Min son pa galejan" ("My son on the galley") described the Kraken as a Crab-fish, which is not that huge & is not larger than "Oland" (less than 16 kilometres) and stays on the sea floor. When he rises, he spurts water from his dreadful nostrils and makes ring whirlpools around him which can reach many miles and any ships in the vicinity should make their get away, before he surfaces.

In 1802, the French malacologist Pierre Denys de Montfort recognised the existence of two kinds of octopuses in his encyclopaedia titled - "Histoire Naturelle Generale et Particuliere des Mollusques" ("Natural History - in general and in particular of the Molluscs"). 

He claimed that the first type of "Kraken octopus" had been described by Norwegian sailors and American whalers, as well as, ancient writers like Pliny the Elder. The second type was much larger - the "Colossal octopus", which had reportedly attacked a sailing vessel off the coast of Angola.
This image of a Kraken looming large over a multi-storeyed building, with the coin in the background, is positioned to show the large size of the Kraken, viv-a-vis the size of present day buildings

What does a Kraken look like?

Since the 18th Century, it has been depicted in many ways, primarily as large octopus-like creatures. Pontoppidan's Kraken was probably a giant squid, based on sailor's observations.

The Kraken has also been described as having spikes on its suckers.

Earlier descriptions of the creature portrayed it as more crab-like than octopus-like and generally possessed traits associated with large whales, rather than with giant squids. Some traits of the Kraken resemble undersea volcanic activity occurring in the Icelandic region, including bubbles of water, sudden, dangerous currents and appearance of new islets.

In popular culture:

In 1830, Alfred Tennyson published the irregular sonnet -"The Kraken", which described a massive creature that dwells at the bottom of the sea.

 In 1851, Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick (chapter 59, Squid), the Pequod (whaler ship) encounters what Chief Mate Starbuck identifies as - "The great live squid, which, they say, few whaler-ships ever beheld and returned to their ports to tell of it."  Another crewman Ishmael talks about what kind of creature equating it to a cuttle-fish.

 The Coin:
A Kraken seems to present the Obverse and Reverse faces of the Silver Coin in the above image
The Reverse of the 10 Canadian Dollars Coin shows a Kraken ripping a couple of masted ships apart, (holding them in its tentacles) which the monster has attacked.

 On the upper periphery is inscribed the name of the issuing country - "CANADA" and on the lower periphery is given the metal composition of the coin - "FINE SILVER 2 OZARGENT PUR'. Below the primary design is mentioned the Silver fineness of the coin - "9999".

 The image of the Kraken is in the form of a giant squid, which are known to frequent Canadian waters and where there are Giant Squids, legends of the Sea do abound. The image is greatly influenced by the traditional image of this cephalopod-based legend.
The Obverse of the 10 Canadian Dollars Coin  bears an image of Queen Elizabeth facing right. The peripheral inscriptions are - "ELIZABETH II. 2020. D.G. REGINA. 10 DOLLARS".


 The specifications of this Silver coin are:

 Denomination:10 CAD (Canada); Metal Composition: .9999 Fineness Silver (Ag); Weight: 62.2 grams or 2 Oz; Diameter/Size: 38.0 mm; Coin Quality: Brilliant Uncirculated; Mintage: No limit - as per demand; Presentation Box: No; Certificate of Authenticity (COA): No; Minted By: Royal Canadian Mint; Year: 2020.










For other interesting posts on the Coins and Banknotes of Canada, please visit the following links:









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22) Centennial Flame Monument on Parliament Hill, Canada: A Double Crown Sized Silver 50 Dollars Coin issued by the Royal Canadian Mint: Coin issue date: 2019

23) "Canadian Horse", Canada: Royal Mint Canada issues a 20 Dollars Gold and Black Rhodium plated Silver Proof Coin: Year of issue marked as 2020:

24) Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice: A $20 (Twenty Canadian Dollars) Silver Coin issued by the Royal Canadian Mint: Coin issue date/year: 2016

25) Red Maple Coin, Canada: "Maple Leaf Annual Coin Series" from the Royal Canadian Mint (RAM): A $10 (10 Dollars) Silver coin issued in 2019

26) "Canadian Fun and festivities" Coin series, Canada: This 3 Dollars Silver Coin, minted by the Royal Canadian Mint, features bringing home a Christmas "Cut-your-own-Tree" from the Wild:

27) Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Canada: Centenary Anniversary (1920-2020): Silver Piedfort Bullion 10 Dollar Coins commemorate the milestone

 28) The "Kraken", Canada: First Coin in a new Coin Series titled - "Creatures of the North": A two Oz. Silver Bullion Coin kickstarts the Coin Series
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