Musician John Lennon was more than just a cofounder of legendary 1960s British rock ‘n’ roll group The Beatles. Lennon was also a world-known activist who used music and media platforms to advocate for peace and love during a time of bloody warfare in Vietnam and tumultuous sociopolitical revolutions around the globe. Perhaps one of Lennon’s most famous protests occurred during the week of March 25, 1969, when he and his wife, Yoko Ono, stayed in bed at the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam to draw international media attention for their nonviolent anti-war message. Lennon and Ono a couple of months later, they staged another Bed-In demonstration in Montreal, where they recorded the iconic 1969 hit “Give Peace a Chance.”
It’s therefore fitting that the Royal Canadian Mint struck a commemorative $20 silver coin in 2019, the 50th anniversary of the couple’s famous Montreal Bed-In. The obverse of the Canada 2019 $20 Give Peace a Chance coin features the requisite portrait of the reigning British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II at the time of the coin’s striking. The reverse depicts the coin’s namesake scene, a photorealistic visage of Ono (at left) and Lennon (right) each holding a single-stemmed rose in bed. Their peaceful poses and calm eyes beseech the viewer to lay down arms of violence and hostility and give peace a chance.
At the age of 40, John Lennon met his tragic fate in New York City at the hands of an assassin on December 8, 1980. The sad twist of irony, a man who stood for peace and love meeting his end in violence, is not lost on many – many who wonder what Lennon’s life of revolutionary music and peaceful activism might have contributed to the world had he lived longer. But one thing is for certain: even as the decades continue unwinding, new generations are being introduced to and embracing Lennon’s music and message. Collecting the Canada 2019 $20 Give Peace a Chance coin is just one more way to honor the legacy of a man who the world will never forget.