Stephanie McDonald
Northern News Services
Monday, July 30, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - The Royal Canadian Mint made waves with the release of its $20 silver collector's coin to commemorate the 125th anniversary of International Polar Year.

On July 18 the Mint made 15,000 coins available to the public, featuring images of Martin Frobisher, an Inuit in a kayak, a compass, a polar bear and mountains.

In an e-mail to a CanWest News Service journalist, Stephen Hendrie, communications director with the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said that the images on the coin are reminiscent of Frobisher kidnapping an Inuit kayaker.

This $20 silver coin has some in the Arctic crying foul over the Royal Canadian Mint's choice of images. photo courtesy of the Royal Canadian Mint

On an 1576 expedition in search of the Northwest Passage, five of Frobisher's crew "went on one of the ship's boats around a point of land and they didn't come back," said Nunavut historian and author Kenn Harper.

It is not known if the men were seized, but they were never seen again.

In retaliation, Frobisher enticed an Inuk kayaker to the side of his ship, offering a bell as a gift. When the Inuk was close enough to the boat, Frobisher seized him, pulling him and his kayak onto the deck of the ship.

The Inuk was brought to England where he was put on display.

He later died and was buried in England, Harper said.

The images on the coin do not depict a single historical event, said Christine Aquino, senior manager of corporate communications with the Royal Canadian Mint.

"That's purely coincidental," Aquino said. "It's to celebrate the first International Polar Year and it's also meant to mark the importance of continued expeditions in the North."

An internal committee at the Mint chose the images depicted on the coin and artist Laurie McGaw put it together.

While Harper doesn't believe the images on the coin are meant to depict Frobisher's infamous 1576 voyage, he believes the Mint made a poor choice with its design.

"If the purpose of the coin is to commemorate the first International Polar Year, Frobisher has nothing to do with that."

Frobisher explored the eastern Arctic three centuries before the first International Polar year was marked, Harper said.

"International Polar Year was not about polar exploration, it was about scientific investigation," he said.

Aquino said that the Mint consults with various sources when developing themes for a coin.

"Several experts on polar exploration were consulted," Aquino said, but wasn't able to reveal who the experts were.