The Royal Canadian Mint has issued 5,000 limited edition coins with a faceted edge and rim shaped like the Iron Ring to commemorate the 100ᵗʰ anniversary of the rite of passage known as The Calling of an Engineer.
The $180 near-pure silver coin, soon set for release, was designed by artists Pandora Young and Steven Rosati. On the coin’s reverse, the ring-like rim rises up to encircle the Mint’s ode to engineers and their many varied achievements over the past 100 years.
“For the rim, the idea of having the ring’s facets replace the usual serrations came from our research and development team, and we set out to replicate the angles and quantity as best as we could,” announced Christian Brochu, research and development engineer at the Mint. “We pushed the boundaries of the striking process by tripling up the rim height, from 0.18 mm to 0.6 mm, and it is this fabulous high rim that allows the ring facets to stand out and add distinction to this special coin.”
The modernized Iron Ring ceremony had its official launch on April 25 at the Palais des Congrès de Montréal, the same city where the first ceremony took place in 1925.
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This new ceremony maintains historical elements of the ceremony the review committee believed still held meaning, including the obligation and the Iron Ring, while updating or adding other elements. For example, the revised ceremony features a newly written history of the Iron Ring, alongside retired astronaut Chris Hadfield’s interpretation of the Obligation within a modern engineering context.
The ceremony now also features poems from Gisela Hippolt-Squair, who works for the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) as a senior communication strategist and change agent, as well as Réjean Plamondon, an engineering professor and researcher at Montreal’s Polytechnique University.
