The Royal Canadian Mint has launched a $2 commemorative circulation coin recognizing Daphne Odjig, the trailblazing Anishinaabe artist celebrated for her vibrant style and cultural storytelling. Limited to a mintage of three million coins, including two million in color and one million uncolored, the issue entered circulation on Sept. 4 and will appear in everyday change as banks and businesses replenish their inventories.

Born in 1919 on Manitoulin Island, Odjig was of Odawa, Potawatomi, and English heritage. A founding member of the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., often dubbed the "Indian Group of Seven," she helped propel Indigenous art into the Canadian mainstream. Her bold, colorful work conveyed cultural pride and personal storytelling, inspiring generations of artists.

The coin’s reverse design adapts a figure from Odjig’s 1977 painting The Folk Singer — a woman holding a drum — surrounded by an outer rim featuring an engraved reproduction of her stylized fisher drawing from the1978 work The Indian in Transition.

Two million of the coins feature the figure in red, yellow, and blue, while one million are uncolored.

The obverse carries the effigy of King Charles III by Canadian artist Steven Rosati.

Collector Products Available

Collectors can mark the release with options beyond circulation coins, including a two-piece keepsake card featuring both coloured and uncoloured versions ($14.95 CAD), special wrap rolls of 25 coins in either finish ($89.95 CAD each), and a $20 fine silver coin titled Folk Singer by Daphne Odjig ($129.95 CAD). The silver piece highlights the drum-holding figure from Odjig’s 1977 work, framed by a bird motif, and is struck in one ounce of .9999 fine silver.

To learn more about Daphne Odjig’s life and legacy, and to order available collector products from the Mint, visit www.mint.ca/odjig.

Credit : coinnews | mint.ca