Good news, fans of Canadian literary icons, collectible coins and, by logical extension, long periods of celibacy.
The Royal Canadian Mint has released a limited edition $5 silver commemorative coin to honour acclaimed short story writer Alice Munro, who just so happens to be the winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize for literature.
According to an item in the Globe and Mail, the coin is engraved with a quote from Munro’s 2006 story collection The View from Castle Rock and a laurel branch to symbolize Munro’s distinction as the first Canadian woman to win a Nobel Prize in literature. The quote, which requires a magnifying glass to make out, reads, in part, “And in one of these houses — I can’t remember whose — a magic doorstop, a big mother-of-pearl seashell that I recognized as a messenger from near and far.” Not sure why the mint didn’t go with “Never underestimate the meanness in people’s souls... Even when they’re being kind... especially when they’re being kind” or even “You cannot let your parents anywhere near your real humiliations.”
Unfortunately the other side of the coin features some broad named Queen Elizabeth, who in her entire life probably hasn’t written so much as a paragraph exploring the complexities of the human experience in such an uncomplicated prose style, let alone a story-within-a -story that concludes with a character “enduring the start of her menstrual period, under the influence of a pain-killer, reconciled to an unprotected, unmarried destiny that will not end well.” So eat it, Lizzie. Stop oppressing us with your ubiquitous presence on our money.
Only 7,500 of the Munro coins will be minted, which explains why the $5 silver piece of pocket change will actually retail for $69.95.
In the meantime, we’re still holding out for our commemorative Margaret Laurence wooden nickel, customized cheques quoting Dennis Lee’s “Alligator Pie,” a Joseph Boyden travel rewards card and a Margaret Atwood-endorsed bitcoin “mobile wallet.”
