Canadian Pennies?

[airborne1092]

Since Canada ceased minting their pennies, what does the CA penny situation look like as of now? Are they worth holding back, aside from the centennials and specials? Living in a US border state, I come across them frequently and have collected several handfuls...

 

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[unclemac]

not really, unless you have something special. The Canadians go crazy for very specific things like key dates and mint errors, the diving goose 1967 dollar for instance.... also esoteric things like "how many lines" on the reverse of a Voyageur dollar. Not to mention "radar notes"... serial numbers on bills like "1234321". And don't get me started on "Breton" tokens.... that is a VERY deep well indeed.

 

[CRHer700]

Since Canada ceased minting their pennies, what does the CA penny situation look like as of now? Are they worth holding back, aside from the centennials and specials? Living in a US border state, I come across them frequently and have collected several handfuls...

Not unless you like hoarding them like me. They are hard to get rid of once you have them.

 

[unclemac]

growing up in the states next to Canada we always had and used Canadian coins, no one ever said anything. Kinda cool when you think about it.... Did yall down in Texas ever us Mexican money on a regular basis in the 50's-60's?

 

[MIhunter]

1) errors
2) high grade
3) 1954 (lowest mintage QEII)
4) Pre 1953 KGVI or KGV

Since there is no law in US banning the melting of Canadian coins, copper pennies are worth up to 3 cents.

 

[halfdime]

I see enough pennies that I have thousands of Canadians. 1996 and earlier are bronze. I plan to ask a local foundry to make me some house numbers out of what I have.

 

[pepperj]

 

[Coinstar magnet]

Since Canada ceased minting their pennies, what does the CA penny situation look like as of now? Are they worth holding back, aside from the centennials and specials? Living in a US border state, I come across them frequently and have collected several handfuls...

I just put my Canadian change in a container for when I visit Canada....other then that I can't think of what else to do..

 

[Coinstar magnet]

1) errors
2) high grade
3) 1954 (lowest mintage QEII)
4) Pre 1953 KGVI or KGV

Since there is no law in US banning the melting of Canadian coins, copper pennies are worth up to 3 cents.

I didn't think of that... interesting

 

[Coinstar magnet]

growing up in the states next to Canada we always had and used Canadian coins, no one ever said anything. Kinda cool when you think about it.... Did yall down in Texas ever us Mexican money on a regular basis in the 50's-60's?

Good question...

 

[Coinstar magnet]

not really, unless you have something special. The Canadians go crazy for very specific things like key dates and mint errors, the diving goose 1967 dollar for instance.... also esoteric things like "how many lines" on the reverse of a Voyageur dollar. Not to mention "radar notes"... serial numbers on bills like "1234321". And don't get me started on "Breton" tokens.... that is a VERY deep well indeed.

I can see how someone could get into that well..

 

[Bucket Lister]

Since Canada ceased minting their pennies,

How did I manage to miss that ‽‽‽ 😲

Timely thread--I was just wondering what to do with my Canadian coins. I live in a border state too, so I started collecting Canadian coins at the same time I started collecting US coins; it just seemed natural. Raised all kinds of heck at the bank though (exchanging rolls)...

Since there is no law in US banning the melting of Canadian coins, copper pennies are worth up to 3 cents.

Wow! Tripled my investment in just 60 years! 🤑 😎

I see enough pennies that I have thousands of Canadians. 1996 and earlier are bronze. I plan to ask a local foundry to make me some house numbers out of what I have.

How many thousands? That might make some big ol' house numbers! 😲

And don't get me started on "Breton" tokens.... that is a VERY deep well indeed.

Not familiar. Like our Civil War and Hard Times tokens? 🤨

 

[unclemac]

no, "Bretons" are named for Pierre Breton, an early Canadian numismatist who identified and cataloged hundreds of tokens used as currency throughout Canada in the 19th century. The colonies in what is now Canada had to make due with whatever they could pass for money... playing cards, militia buttons, blacksmith made tokens, and even Roman coins being the more exotic. The majority were bank issued or merchant issued. These along with American, British, French and especially Spanish Colonial, coins were used from coast to coast.

Coins and Canada - Tokens and medals listed by P.N. Breton

Coins and Canada - Tokens and medals listed by P.N. Breton

www.coinsandcanada.com

notice the banknote below.... it is redeemable in U.S. half dollar, old French 1 Ecu, French republic 3 Francs, 2 shillings and 6 British, and 4 Reales Spanish (Mexican).

 

[Bucket Lister]

no, "Bretons" are named for Pierre Breton, an early Canadian numismatist who identified and cataloged hundreds of tokens used as currency throughout Canada in the 19th century. The colonies in what is now Canada had to make due with whatever they could pass for money... playing cards, militia buttons, blacksmith made tokens, and even Roman coins being the more exotic. The majority were bank issued or merchant issued. These along with American, British, French and especially Spanish Colonial, coins were used from coast to coast.

So.... yeah, they are like our Civil War and Hard Times tokens, except the guy who cataloged them here is named, Q. David Bowers (author of Whitman guide books). 🙂🤓

 

[MIhunter]

I just put my Canadian change in a container for when I visit Canada....other then that I can't think of what else to do..

In my area, Chase will exchanged rolled Canadian coins (1, 5, 10 or 25 cents) and give you USD at 1:1 (up to $10 per day per branch). They have never asked for my account number. So I keep Loonies and Toonies for use in Canada but exchange the rest.

 

[unclemac]

So.... yeah, they are like our Civil War and Hard Times tokens, except the guy who cataloged them here is named, Q. David Bowers (author of Whitman guide books). 🙂🤓

well...yes, except this approach was also the standard and spanned decades. Hard times tokens even made it to Canada along with American colonial coppers too.

 

[Coinstar magnet]

In my area, Chase will exchanged rolled Canadian coins (1, 5, 10 or 25 cents) and give you USD at 1:1 (up to $10 per day per branch). They have never asked for my account number. So I keep Loonies and Toonies for use in Canada but exchange the rest.

Good to know... I'll give it a try...I assumed they would only go by a rate of exchange...