Solid gold hero coin

The Royal Canadian Mint will start circulating its Terry Fox dollar coin on April 4th, the day of the 25th anniversary of his Marathon of Hope.

Fox might be the only Canadian hero recognized as such by the whole Canadian public. Whether you live in Dawson, Saskatoon, Chicoutimi or Halifax, most people over thirty will identify his name with courage, compassion and sacrifice. Nobody else inspires such admiration coast-to-coast. Not Billy Bishop, not Sir John A. Macdonald, not Maurice Richard.

Twenty-five years after his fateful journey, Terry Fox is a solid-gold Canadian icon. One would wish the Mint would circulate its Terry Fox coins as regular currency, instead of a $15 collector’s item. Putting that small reminder of what is inspiring about Canada into everyone’s pocket would be more effective than the whole sponsorship program ever was.