Drawing for 5 cent coin / Centennial Coin, Alex Colville, 5 cents, 1966 / 1967

Found in every province and territory, the snowshoe hare shown here is familiar to most Canadians. Offering insight into his lively design for the five-cent coin, Colville said, “The rabbit (varying hare) is common, much loved by children, perhaps because of its vulnerability. It survives by alertness and speed, and is symbolically connected to the ideas of fertility, new life and promise—it is a future, or united, animal.” In his drawing for the five-cent coin (left), Colville relies on a complex geometric matrix to construct a dynamic yet precisely ordered image of the hare. His depiction of the leaping creature on the five-cent coin (right) emphasizes its remarkable physical capabilities—it can bound three metres at a time and travel at speeds of up to forty-five kilometres per hour. The design also emphasizes the hare’s broad hind feet, which prevent it from sinking in the snow.