St. Catharines man's design chosen for Canada 150 loonie

In a new series of coins unveiled by The Royal Canadian Mint to celebrate Canada's 150thanniversary, the 2017 circulationloonie will feature a winning design by St CatharinesnativeWesley Klassen.

The 50-year-oldwas selected as a finalist in the Mint's "My Canada, My Inspiration"contest, which launched in Marchlast year and invitedmembers of the public to create new designs for a 2017 circulation coin series celebrating Canada's sesquicentennial.

• Read More:Royal Canadian Mint unveils its 2017 Canada 150 circulation coin series

After over one million votes were cast online,Klassen's design won the popular votefor the coin celebrating the theme of"Our Achievements."

"It's an amazing honour to have my artwork displayed the 2017 one-dollar coin and this will make my memories of Canada 150 that much more special for me and my family," saidKlassen in a statement.

"I chose images that are in one way or another connected to the railroad, for which all Canadians can be forever grateful, and I'm touched that my design appealed to so many of them."

"These coins will stand the test of time as memorable keepsakes of a milestone in Canadian history," said Finance Minister Bill Morneau

According to the St. Catharines Standard,Klassen isan electrician with Ontario Power Generation, has no formal art training but enjoys painting, sketching and photography as a hobby.

Each of the five winning designs will grace the 2017-dated two-dollar, one-dollar, 25-cent, 10-cent and 5-cent coins respectively. The winning designers each won$2,000and a trip to Ottawa for the unveiling of their coins.

The winning design by Klassen isto be featuredon the reverse side of the 2017 one-dollar coin, featuringlandmarks such as the Lion's Gate Bridge,the CN Tower, andQuebec City's majestic ChateauFrontenacHotel.

Klassen said the design, one of five selected to feature onthe various2017 circulation coins, drew fromchildhood memories of family vacations, "illustrating the iconic engineering achievements which dominate our landscape from east to west all of which is connected by railroad."

The finalists in each category were determined by the Royal Canadian Mint and a panel of notable Canadians.

Canadians can expect to findcoins featuring the winning designs in their change next spring.