Canada’s coinage runs from colonial tokens and fishscales to the loonie — with a silver debasement in 1920, a legendary 1911 pattern dollar, and a circulation era that ended in 2012 with the penny. This hub maps the denominations, the silver years, and the key rarities Canadian collectors hunt.
Key facts
- The Ottawa mint opened in 1908 as a branch of Britain’s Royal Mint.
- Canadian circulating silver was .925 sterling until 1920, debased to .800 fineness in 1920; the 5-cent piece switched from .800 silver to pure nickel in 1922.
- The 5-cent “fishscale” series (tiny silver coins) ran 1858–1921; the 1921 5¢ is the famous last silver issue.
- In 1937 Canada redesigned its denominations with national icons still familiar today: maple leaf (1¢), beaver (5¢), Bluenose schooner (10¢), caribou (25¢), coat of arms (50¢).
- The silver dollar debuted in 1935 as the Voyageur dollar; silver was removed from circulation coinage in 1968 (switched to nickel).
- The loonie (1-dollar coin) replaced the paper dollar in 1987; the toonie (2-dollar) followed in 1996. Penny production ended in May 2012 and distribution ceased in February 2013.
- Authentication notes: Canadian key dates (1921 5¢, 1935 dollar, 1947 ML 5¢) are counterfeited — check weight and beaver/dollar diagnostics; the 1921 5¢ is .800 silver (magnetic-slide test fails on it, unlike nickel).