2016-11-07 Mon

The Voltigeurs, are the oldest French-Canadian regiment based out of Quebec City. The armoury, built in 1885 caught fire on 4th April 2008. The roof collapsed and tonnes of copper turned into rubble. The armoury is being rebuilt, eight years later. Unlike other armies, Voltigeurs didn't have a coin of their own. Charles-Olivier Roy, an artisan from Levis was contacted to convert waste metal into coins.

First, the copper is scraped into chips which are melted, turned into ingots and laminated into similar thickness. Finally, the blank planchets are struck into coins and the images are stamped onto the coins by a business in Sherbrooke.

The coin tries to honour the legacy of the regiment. A special version of the coin, known as a piedfort, would be awarded to one soldier annually for the next 50 years.

The coin features the image of the original copper roof, a soldier from the North West Rebellion, a soldier from the Second World War and a soldier from Afghanistan.

Lt.-Col.Charles-Michel de Salaberry, who founded the Canadian Voltigeurs, is also depicted in the foreground. The design is inspired by the statue of Salaberry outside of the Quebec National Assembly.

The piedfort coin is twice as thick as the others and was awarded to Cpl. Pier-Luk Ferland this year.