On 2 May 1670 King Charles II of England signed the charter of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and 325 years later Canada marked the anniversary with its 1995 silver dollar.

The idea came from two French traders, Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médard Chouart des Groseilliers. Finding no support in France, they went to England, won the backing of Prince Rupert, and in 1668 two ships, the Eaglet and the Nonsuch, set out for Hudson Bay. Two years later came the charter, and Prince Rupert himself became the company’s first governor.

The reverse by Vincent McIndoe shows the company theme together with a ship. The obverse carries Elizabeth II by Dora de Pédery-Hunt, the first Canadian to design the Queen’s effigy for coins; this portrait appeared on all Canadian coins from 1990 to 2003.

The charter granted the company a vast territory named Rupert’s Land after Prince Rupert, cousin of Charles II. To the west, Rupert’s Land reached as far as the Rocky Mountains, and the 1995 coin marks three and a quarter centuries since the document was signed.

The dollar was issued in two versions: proof, with a mintage of 166,259, and BU (an enhanced regular strike), with 61,819. It belongs in a run of 1990s Canadian silver dollars, a collection on the history of North America and a maritime topical set.

AU-UNC condition sits between About Uncirculated and Uncirculated: no signs of circulation or only barely visible rubbing on the highest points of the relief, with the mint lustre fully or almost fully preserved.

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