Canadian coins?

[bassman92]

I have been getting tons of Canadian Nickels, dimes and quarters and was wondering what dates were silver? I know Canadian coins stick to a magnet that aren't silver but is that true for the 50% silver coins as well? And what about Canadian pennies? Found some that date pre 1945. Are they worth keeping?

 

[minkybodl]

Try this site out for most of your answers,

http://www.coinflation.com/canada/

 

[That Canadian Guy]

Any question regarding Canadian coins feel free to ask me. The dates for silver are as follows.
5 cent pieces: pre 1919 are sterling silver (92.5%) 1920-1921 are 80% silver. 1921 is very rare and is worth far more than just melt. Beginning in 1922 the 5 cent coin was made from pure nickel.

10 cent pieces: pre 1919 are sterling silver (92.5%) 1920-1967 are 80% silver. 1967-1968 are 50% silver

25 cent pieces: pre 1919 are sterling silver (92.5%) 1920-1967 are 80% silver. 1967-1968 are 50% silver

50 cent pieces: pre 1919 are sterling silver (92.5%) 1920-1967 are 80% silver

Dollar pieces: 1935-1967 are 80% silver

The 50% silver coins are non magnetic because their composition is 50% silver and 50% copper, both non magnetic metals. In 1967 both compositions were issued. In 1968 both the 50% silver composition and the 100% pure nickel composition were issued. The best way to tell these apart is with a magnet. Just like with american cents the copper ones are worth keeping which for Canadian coins is pre 1996. Any coin with King George VI or an earlier monarch is worth keeping. George VI coins are pre 1952 so your pre 1945 cents are worth keeping.

 

[bassman92]

Thanks. No silver there but now I know.

 

[FormerTeller]

Any question regarding Canadian coins feel free to ask me. The dates for silver are as follows.
5 cent pieces: pre 1919 are sterling silver (92.5%) 1920-1921 are 80% silver. 1921 is very rare and is worth far more than just melt. Beginning in 1922 the 5 cent coin was made from pure nickel.

10 cent pieces: pre 1919 are sterling silver (92.5%) 1920-1967 are 80% silver. 1967-1968 are 50% silver

25 cent pieces: pre 1919 are sterling silver (92.5%) 1920-1967 are 80% silver. 1967-1968 are 50% silver

50 cent pieces: pre 1919 are sterling silver (92.5%) 1920-1967 are 80% silver

Dollar pieces: 1935-1967 are 80% silver

The 50% silver coins are non magnetic because their composition is 50% silver and 50% copper, both non magnetic metals. In 1967 both compositions were issued. In 1968 both the 50% silver composition and the 100% pure nickel composition were issued. The best way to tell these apart is with a magnet. Just like with american cents the copper ones are worth keeping which for Canadian coins is pre 1996. Any coin with King George VI or an earlier monarch is worth keeping. George VI coins are pre 1952 so your pre 1945 cents are worth keeping.

Great information! I was taking inventory of my Canadian cents last night, and was wondering which ones to keep for copper, and which to keep for numismatic value.

Many thanks!

 

[klava]

You should also hang onto the pre 82 nickels. They are .999 nickel.

HH
-Lava

 

[chinman]

glad i read this, i have a bunch of pre-82 nickels.

 

[bartholomewroberts]

Any question regarding Canadian coins feel free to ask me. The dates for silver are as follows.
5 cent pieces: pre 1919 are sterling silver (92.5%) 1920-1921 are 80% silver. 1921 is very rare and is worth far more than just melt. Beginning in 1922 the 5 cent coin was made from pure nickel.

10 cent pieces: pre 1919 are sterling silver (92.5%) 1920-1967 are 80% silver. 1967-1968 are 50% silver

25 cent pieces: pre 1919 are sterling silver (92.5%) 1920-1967 are 80% silver. 1967-1968 are 50% silver

50 cent pieces: pre 1919 are sterling silver (92.5%) 1920-1967 are 80% silver

Dollar pieces: 1935-1967 are 80% silver

The 50% silver coins are non magnetic because their composition is 50% silver and 50% copper, both non magnetic metals. In 1967 both compositions were issued. In 1968 both the 50% silver composition and the 100% pure nickel composition were issued. The best way to tell these apart is with a magnet. Just like with american cents the copper ones are worth keeping which for Canadian coins is pre 1996. Any coin with King George VI or an earlier monarch is worth keeping. George VI coins are pre 1952 so your pre 1945 cents are worth keeping.

I 1967, some of the coins [dimes, quarters and halves] we 80% silver and some were 50% silver. At some point it was decided that the price of silver made necessary the reduction.. I do not know how you could differentiate them

 

[MIhunter]

To me the most frustrating part of Canadian coin collecting is telling the difference between a 1967 and 1968 Canadian dime or quarter.

Both coins weigh the same and have the same diameter
Both coins are non-magnetic and have same design without any extra marks or arrows

In mint state there should be a small difference in thickness because silver is more dense than copper, but that isn't something you can measure with a regular ruler and not something you can measure on circulated coins

There should be a difference in electrical resisitance because silver is more conductive than copper but this would be small and require rather expensive equipment to tell the difference.

In short, you'll never know whether you have a 1967 50% or 80% dime or quarter.

 

[madwest]

To me the most frustrating part of Canadian coin collecting is telling the difference between a 1967 and 1968 Canadian dime or quarter.

Both coins weigh the same and have the same diameter
Both coins are non-magnetic and have same design without any extra marks or arrows

In mint state there should be a small difference in thickness because silver is more dense than copper, but that isn't something you can measure with a regular ruler and not something you can measure on circulated coins

There should be a difference in electrical resisitance because silver is more conductive than copper but this would be small and require rather expensive equipment to tell the difference.

In short, you'll never know whether you have a 1967 50% or 80% dime or quarter.

If the technology was affordable, we would all have a handheld XRF gun. I've seen them in action and want one so bad it hurts. I think I would trade my entire hoard for one (retail is about $28k - refurbished). http://www.bruker-axs.com/scrap.html.

I envision going to the LCS and shooting the foreign coins, going to garage sales, town dump etc and shooting everything shiny or dull.

 

[That Canadian Guy]

Any question regarding Canadian coins feel free to ask me. The dates for silver are as follows.
5 cent pieces: pre 1919 are sterling silver (92.5%) 1920-1921 are 80% silver. 1921 is very rare and is worth far more than just melt. Beginning in 1922 the 5 cent coin was made from pure nickel.

10 cent pieces: pre 1919 are sterling silver (92.5%) 1920-1967 are 80% silver. 1967-1968 are 50% silver

25 cent pieces: pre 1919 are sterling silver (92.5%) 1920-1967 are 80% silver. 1967-1968 are 50% silver

50 cent pieces: pre 1919 are sterling silver (92.5%) 1920-1967 are 80% silver

Dollar pieces: 1935-1967 are 80% silver

The 50% silver coins are non magnetic because their composition is 50% silver and 50% copper, both non magnetic metals. In 1967 both compositions were issued. In 1968 both the 50% silver composition and the 100% pure nickel composition were issued. The best way to tell these apart is with a magnet. Just like with american cents the copper ones are worth keeping which for Canadian coins is pre 1996. Any coin with King George VI or an earlier monarch is worth keeping. George VI coins are pre 1952 so your pre 1945 cents are worth keeping.

I 1967, some of the coins [dimes, quarters and halves] we 80% silver and some were 50% silver. At some point it was decided that the price of silver made necessary the reduction.. I do not know how you could differentiate them

In late 1966 early 1967 the decision was made to phase out and get rid of silver coins. Because of the higher face value of the dollar and the 50 cent piece as well as the traditional lower mintage they were struck in 80% throughout all of 1967 and in 1968 the mint had the new dies,tools and metals to begin producing the dollar and 50 cent piece from pure nickel. As previously mentioned the mint had planned to reduce/remove the silver content from the most circulated denominations so in the middle of the year in 1967 they silver content was reduced from 80% to 50% silver. The best way to tell the difference between the two is to do the drop test as 50% silver has a different ring to it than 80%. Just make sure you have really good hearing if you want to do this. So anyway when 1968 rolls around the mint didn't have the tools and materials all ready to produce a pure nickel dime and quarter. So they continued to produce these denominations with the reduced silver content. After a few months the new tools/blanks and everything else required to make these new dimes and quarters were ready and production of the pure nickel dime and quarter began. As a mater of fact the Canadian mint was somewhat overwhelmed with all these new changes and the Philadelphia mint in the USA produced a notable number of the new (back in 1968) pure nickel dimes.