| Dimensions |
1.75 inches round
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This geocoin celebrates Medicine Hat, a
geocaching destination as unique as it sounds!If you are not sure what a
medicine hat is this geocoin will fix that, it features a medicine hat design on
one of the faces.The word "saamis" is a Blackfoot word denoting the eagle
feathers that are used to make ceremonial headdresses (medicine hat's).The
buffalo headdress on this coin is inspired by the fact that the Buffalo Trail
(Highway 41) passes directly through Medicine Hat and the buffalo/eagle-feather headdress has been a symbol of our community for over a 100 years.The second
GAS geocoin also features a purple dinosaur, dinosaurs are a big part of life in Alberta South and the design of
the second GAS Geocoin reflects that fact with two dinosaurs on the
coin.
This new GAS Geocoin reprises the first GAS Geocoin in a unique fashion
with an iconic representation of the first GAS Geocoin, the orange dino, on one
face of the coin.
The dino featured on the new GAS Geocoin is an
Albertosaurus. This raptor was discovered in the Alberta South badlands and it
was named "Albertosaurus" by Joseph Burr Tyrell to honour the province of
Alberta.
That name, Tyrell, may sound very familiar to people who love
dinosaurs, the world famous Royal Tyrell Museum of Paleontology in Drumheller
was named to honour Joseph Tyrell!
Alberta South is the home of Dinosaur
Provincial Park, a Unesco World Heritage Site and a unique Alberta South
destination.
A large number of dinosaur fossils have
been recovered and are still being recovered today, the nearest major center to
Dinosaur Provincial Park is Medicine Hat, the GAS City.
Dinosaur Park is the
field station for Tyrell Museum and many of the 500 fossil skeletons recovered
in Dinosaur Park have been given to museums around the world.
The phrase
"Cache in the Hat" is an invitation to come and enjoy the great geocaching
landscape that has developed in and around Medicine Hat and a humourous
reference to Dr. Suess and his "Cat in the Hat"
books..
GeocachingAlbertaSouth (GAS) is centered in Medicine Hat but also
encompasses other Alberta South geocaching destinations like Lethbridge and
Drumheller.
This geocoin was designed by an Alberta artist,
peanutbutterbreadandjam, the same artist who designed the 2006 Alberta Wild
Rose.
The features and colours of this geocoin clearly reflect life in the
GAS City, the brick pattern was lifted directly from the signs that welcome
visitors to Medicine Hat.
The golds and oranges symbolize not only the
prairie grasses but they also reflect the importance of bricks in our local
economy.
Medicine Hat is the source of some of the finest clays in the world
and IXL has made bricks here since the turn of the century, in fact the oldest
brick building in Alberta is found in Medicine Hat.
Clay and fired bricks and
the red shale that gives the bordering village of Redcliff it's name are all
reflected in the colours of this geocoin.
I would like to thank Miles who produced the
art for this coin and as always a special thank you to Mike at The Geocoinstore,
thank you both for your help and efforts in making this coin a reality.
This
geocoin features a custom icon and it is trackable on
geocaching.com.
"This part of the country seems to have all
hell for a basement, and the only trap door appears to be in Medicine Hat. And don’t you ever think of changing
the name of your town. It’s all your own
and the only hat of its kind on earth."
- Rudyard Kipling
wavector - Medicine Hat,
Alberta
August 14, 2008
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