She was more than just a queen. She defined an era, rewrote the book on British monarchies, and left an imprint on nations around the world.
We’re talking about Queen Victoria, who was born May 24, 1819, and sat upon the throne as the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from June 20, 1837, until she passed away on January 22, 1901, at the age of 81. Queen Victoria oversaw the rapid expansion of the British Empire throughout the latter half of the 19th century. She also helmed the unification of Britain’s provinces of the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, as the Dominion of Canada on July 1, 1867.
Queen Victoria is therefore fittingly known as the “Mother of Confederation” in Canada, where a holiday known as Victoria Day has been celebrated since 1845. Originally, the holiday was observed on the queen’s birthday, May 24. However, over the years the holiday has floated around the latter squares of the May calendar, occurring on the last Monday prior to May 25. This means that Victoria Day is celebrated each year sometime between May 18 and May 24.
Regardless of its actual date of observation, Victoria Day is a Canadian federal statutory holiday, meaning that employees in Canada typically either get the day off or receive premium pay if they work it. Victoria Day is also of great cultural importance to Canadians because it represents the symbolic start of summer, much in the same fashion that Memorial Day kicks off summer customs and traditions in the neighboring United States.
Canadian numismatists, or any coin collectors, who wish to honor Victoria Day have a bevy of options for doing so. After all, Queen Victoria appeared on Canada’s coinage for decades.
There are multitudes of options for purchasing Canadian coins that carry Queen Victoria’s portrait, whether it’s on the face of a relatively inexpensive copper coin like a 19th-century Canadian one cent coin or a larger, more valuable piece like a silver Canadian half dollar or provincial gold coin. There’s literally something for collectors of every budget, and there is a broad diversity of PCGS Registry Sets that accommodate Canadian Victorian coins of the 19th and early 20th centuries.