Centennial Coin, Alex Colville, 1 cent, 1967

The one-cent centennial coin features a frontal view of a rock dove (or common pigeon) in flight. “For this I wished to use a very common bird, but one with symbolic overtones,” said Colville. “I selected the dove (rock dove)—very common, in cities as well as in the country, as the pigeon, and having associations with spiritual values and also with peace.” As the lowest coin denomination, this centennial piece is more frequently found in public circulation than its companions. Colville’s coins are artistic objects that were also made to function in the broader world and economy. That function in the world was important to Colville, as his daughter Ann Kitz told John Leroux, Manager of Collections and Exhibitions at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery: “He was always happy to find one of the coins in his change and usually kept them, especially as they became more and more rare…. It pleased him very much to have his work so widely circulated.”