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2004 Proof Silver Dollar
Celebrate the birth of the New World with this epic tale.
In June 1604, Samuel de Champlain and Pierre du Gua, sieur de
Monts were exploring the Atlantic coast in order to establish the first
settlement that would solidify France’s rights to this region of the New
World.
Sailing into a bay in New Brunswick, they discovered an island at the
cross-shaped confluence of three rivers- a perfectly strategic site which
sieur de Monts promptly named ÎIe Saite-Croix.
By late September, the settlement was built just in time for the snow
that began to fall a few days later. The river quickly filled with ice
floes, cutting the colony off from the mainland. Surrounded by salt water,
the men were forced to spend the winter with very little food or firewood
for heat.
When spring warmed, only 44 of the original 79 men were alive. The
settlement was relocated, but the historic impact of this small island
would endure for centuries to come.
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