Canadian artist Meghan Sims has created an intriguing design featuring an abstract eye superimposed over a mountain scene representing the institution that CNIB has built during its first century, with “100″ in braille. The passage of time is conveyed by the sun and moon at the centre, where selective green colour transforms the sun into an iris, with the moon as its pupil. Variations in colour, detail and texture symbolize the range of conditions and abilities experienced with sight loss. The curved horizon doubles as an eyelid, its lashes standing as trees in honour of the seven founders of the CNIB; the jack pine embodying the strength and resilience of people living with sight loss. The CNIB’s founders met at the Canadian Free Library for the Blind. Two founders had lost their sight during the war, three suffered sight loss due to illness or trauma, and two were sighted. In the 1920s, the CNIB’s job placement program was one of the first in North America specifically for people with sight loss. It was revolutionary, and significantly improved the prospects for blind Canadians who would otherwise be destined for alife of hardship and poverty. By the 1950s, the CNIB was the largest private non-profit organization of its kind in the world, serving more than 17,000 blind Canadians with a focus on empowering people to live full, independent lives. Today, the CNIB has 50 offices nationwide, and estimates that half a million Canadians have significant sight loss that affects their quality of life. To celebrate its centennial, CNIB is celebrating through honouring and storytelling, with a focus on the people – past and present – who have contributed to changing what it is to be blind today. Individuals with sight loss often have a heightened sense of hearing, smell and touch, with superior cognitive functions such as memory and language. Science continues to explore the brain’s ability to adapt and reorganize itself to compensate for a loss in any of the senses, a field known as cross-modalneuroplasticity. Your coin is encapsulated and presented in a Royal Canadian Mint-branded maroon clamshell with a black beauty box. 99.99% pure silver, bronze. 50 mm (silver), 52 mm (bronze). Serrated (silver), plain (bronze). Proof (silver), antique (bronze). Meghan Sims (reverse), Susanna Blunt (obverse).
