2011 - $10 - Fine Silver Coin - Highway of Heroes

It's a sunny summer evening and a crowd has gathered on the Cranberry Road bridge. This overpass in Port Hope, Ontario spans the Macdonald-Cartier Freeway – known to most as the 401 – about 170 kilometers east of Toronto.

The people on the bridge come from every walk of life. Grandparents, firefighters, students, soldiers, business people, police officers. Nobody has told them to be here. Their assembly is spontaneous. Many of them carry Canadian flags.

At one point, the traffic below dwindles. Then comes the spreading stillness possible only when pride and sorrow are combined in so many gathered hearts.

There is no noise now, no talking. The crowd stands silently, hand to heart, flag to sky. A convoy approaches in the distance. The motorcade passes slowly on the highway below: one car, two. Then a hearse. Its windows are open and from inside a hand waves a beret to acknowledge the silent compatriots gathered outside, pouring out their gratitude, sympathy, and love to those within.

The convoy fades into the distance. The people disperse. Some are crying, all are solemn. They go back to their everyday lives, hopeful that they will not need to meet here again—but thankful that they have.

Whenever fallen Canadian soldiers are returned to the Canadian Forces Base in Trenton, Ontario, this scene plays itself out all along the 172-kilometer stretch of Highway 401 between Trenton and Toronto. Today officially known as the Highway of Heroes, this passageway marks the solemn journey of fallen soldiers and their families to the Centre for Forensic Sciences in Toronto, and preparation for their final resting place. The official designation for this stretch of highway was borne of a spontaneous and unprecedented grassroots movement inspired by the thousands of Canadians who, since 2002, have gathered of their own volition along the roadways and overpasses of this route to pay tribute to those who have given their lives for our nation.

Specifications

Mintage 25000
Composition 99.99% pure silver
Finish proof
Weight (g) 15.87
Diameter (mm)34
Edge serrated
Certificate serialized
Face value 10 dollars
Artist Royal Canadian Mint engraver Stan Witten, in collaboration with Major Carl Gauthier (reverse), Susanna Blunt (obverse)