RCM token back from final frontier

By Bret Evans

Unique piece accompanied astronaut Dave Williams aboard Endeavour

Canadian astronaut Dr. David Williams made a lot of news during his August mission aboard the space shuttle Endeavour, but all that talk about spacewalks and damaged shuttle tiles failed to mention a numismatic milestone.

Williams, with the knowledge and co-operation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) took a special token struck by the Royal Canadian Mint into space with him.

Alex Reeves, communication manager for the RCM, told Canadian Coin News that the sterling silver token is a one-of-a-kind product. The obverse has the RCM logo, as used on many test tokens, while the reverse is blank, but waiting for a suitable engraving.

"After it comes back we'll engrave the back and put it on display," he said.

"We look forward to the safe return of the entire crew of Endeavour and to displaying this very special token for the future enjoyment of all Canadians and visitors to the Royal Canadian Mint," Ian Bennett, master of the Royal Canadian Mint said the day after the Aug. 8 launch of mission STS-118.

In order to prevent profiteering, NASA has rules against astronauts carrying personal coins or tokens into space. However, real coins have been part of the official payload on several missions. A few years ago the United States Mint arranged for a group of gold versions of the U.S. Sacagawea dollar to be carried on a space shuttle mission. They were put on display, and make up a unique group, since the gold version was not sanctioned by the government, nor were more made.

Earlier in 2007, NASA authorized taking two sets of Jamestown commemorative coins aboard Atlantis.

There is no record of any Canadian coins being officially flown in space.

September 18 to October 1, 2007 issue of Canadian Coin News