The Canadian five-cent coin, commonly called a nickel, is a coin worth five
cents or one-twentieth of a
Canadian dollar
The Canadian dollar ( symbol: $; code: CAD; french: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, there is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviation Can$ is often suggested by notable style ...
. It was patterned on the
corresponding coin in the neighbouring United States. It became the smallest-valued coin in the currency upon the
discontinuation of the penny in 2013. Due to
inflation
In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...
, the purchasing power of the nickel continues to drop and currently the coin represents less than 0.5% of the country's lowest
minimum hourly wage.
The denomination (i.e., the Canadian five-cent piece) had been introduced in 1858 as a small, thin
sterling silver
Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by weight of silver and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925.
''Fine silver'', which is 99.9% pure silver, is r ...
coin, that was colloquially known as a "fish scale", not a nickel. The larger
base metal
A base metal is a common and inexpensive metal, as opposed to a precious metal such as gold or silver. In numismatics, coins often derived their value from the precious metal content; however, base metals have also been used in coins in the past ...
version made of
nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow to ...
, and called a "nickel", was introduced as a Canadian coin in 1922, originally as 99.9% nickel metal. These coins were magnetic, due to the high nickel content. Versions during World War II were minted in
tombac
Tombac, or tombak, is a brass alloy with high copper content and 5–20% zinc content. Tin, lead or arsenic may be added for colouration.
It is a cheap malleable alloy mainly used for medals, ornament, decoration and some munitions.
In older u ...
(a copper-zinc alloy), then chrome and nickel-plated
steel
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
, and finally returned again to nickel at the end of the war. A plated steel version was again made from 1951 to 1954 during the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
. Rising nickel prices eventually caused another switch to
cupronickel
Cupronickel or copper-nickel (CuNi) is an alloy of copper that contains nickel and strengthening elements, such as iron and manganese. The copper content typically varies from 60 to 90 percent. (Monel is a nickel-copper alloy that contains a minimu ...
in 1982 (an alloy similar to the
US nickel), but more recently, Canadian nickels are minted in nickel-plated steel, containing a small amount of copper. Due to the aforementioned rise in nickel prices, since 1982, five-cent pieces composed of 99.9% nickel have been slowly removed from circulation to be melted by the
Royal Canadian Mint
}) is the mint of Canada and a Crown corporation, operating under the ''Royal Canadian Mint Act''. The shares of the Mint are held in trust for the Crown in right of Canada.
The Mint produces all of Canada's circulation coins, and manufactures ...
. Only cupronickel and modern multi-ply plated steel five-cent pieces are considered "circulation coins".
Royal Canadian Mint Act R.S.C., 1985, c. R-9
Section 6 – "Non-circulation Coins" and "Circulation Coins"; Part 1 – "Non-circulation Coins"; Part 2 – "Circulation Coins" As a result, pre-1982 five cent pieces are often sought by collectors.
From 1942 to 1963, Canadian five-cent coins were produced in a distinctive 12-sided shape, evocative of the British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
threepence coin. Originally this was done to distinguish the copper-coloured tombac coins, from pennies. However, the characteristic shape was retained for another nineteen years after 1944 when this coin was later produced in 99.9% nickel and chrome-plated steel.
The coin is produced by the Royal Canadian Mint
}) is the mint of Canada and a Crown corporation, operating under the ''Royal Canadian Mint Act''. The shares of the Mint are held in trust for the Crown in right of Canada.
The Mint produces all of Canada's circulation coins, and manufactures ...
at its facility in Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
.
History
The first ever Canadian five-cent coins were struck by the Royal Mint
The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins.
Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by His Majesty's Treasury and is under an exclus ...
in London as part of the introductory 1858 coinage of the Province of Canada
The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British North America, British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham ...
. The coins were the same size and general composition as the corresponding American coins of the time, so the five-cent coin was based on the half dime
The half dime, or half disme, was a silver coin, valued at five cents, formerly minted in the United States.
Some numismatists consider the denomination to be the first business strike coin minted by the United States Mint under the Coinage Act ...
. Although the American denomination was introduced as a larger copper-nickel coin in 1866, and the five-cent silver was retired in 1873, the Canadian five-cent coins remained small and silver until 1922.
All Canadian coins (including five-cent coins) were struck in England at the Royal Mint
The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins.
Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by His Majesty's Treasury and is under an exclus ...
(no mint mark
A mint mark is a letter, symbol or an inscription on a coin indicating the mint where the coin was produced. It should not be confused with a mintmaster mark which is the mark of the mintmaster.
History
Mint marks were first developed to locate ...
) and the Birmingham Mint
The Birmingham Mint was a coining mint and metal-working company based in Birmingham, England. Formerly the world's largest privately-owned mint, the company produced coins for many foreign nations including France, Italy, China, and much of the ...
(H mint mark) until 1908, when the Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
branch of the Royal Mint opened. With the exception of some 1968 dimes
DIMES (Distributed Internet Measurements & Simulations) was a subproject of the EVERGROW Integrated Project in the EU Information Society Technologies, Future and Emerging Technologies programme. It studied the structure and topology of the Inter ...
struck at the Philadelphia Mint
The Philadelphia Mint in Philadelphia was created from the need to establish a national identity and the needs of commerce in the United States. This led the Founding Fathers of the United States to make an establishment of a continental national ...
, all Canadian coins since 1908 have been minted in Canada.
Due to a rise in the price of silver, Canadian coinage was debased from sterling silver
Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by weight of silver and 7.5% by weight of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925.
''Fine silver'', which is 99.9% pure silver, is r ...
(925 fine
Fine may refer to:
Characters
* Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny''
* Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano
Legal terms
* Fine (penalty), money to be paid as punishment for an offe ...
) to 800 fine in 1920. In 1922, silver was removed entirely from the five-cent coin, replacing it with a coin of roughly the same dimensions and mass as the American nickel
A nickel is a five- cent coin struck by the United States Mint. Composed of cupronickel (75% copper and 25% nickel), the piece has been issued since 1866. Its diameter is 0.835 inches (21.21 mm) and its thickness is 0.077 inches ...
. However, unlike the American coin, which was 75% copper and 25% nickel, the Canadian coin was pure nickel, as Canada was the world's largest producer of the metal. This coin has since been known almost universally as the nickel.
The five-cent coin A five-cent coin or five-cent piece is a small-value coin minted for various decimal currencies using the cent as their hundredth subdivision.
Examples include:
* the United States five-cent coin, better known as the US nickel
* the Canadian five ...
of Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
, on the other hand, remained silver until the end of the Newfoundland coinage in 1947.
The nickel's composition has changed several times, most notably during World War II and the Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
when nickel was redirected to the war effort, where it was essential for armour production. In the latter part of 1942 and throughout 1943, the coins were minted in tombac
Tombac, or tombak, is a brass alloy with high copper content and 5–20% zinc content. Tin, lead or arsenic may be added for colouration.
It is a cheap malleable alloy mainly used for medals, ornament, decoration and some munitions.
In older u ...
, an 88% copper-12% zinc
Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
alloy that got its name originally from the Indonesian/Javanese word for brass or copper. In 1944 and 1945, and again from mid-1951 to 1954, coins were made of steel which was plated twice, first with nickel and then chromium. The plating was applied before the blanks were struck, so the edges of these coins are dull or even rust
Rust is an iron oxide, a usually reddish-brown oxide formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the catalytic presence of water or air moisture. Rust consists of hydrous iron(III) oxides (Fe2O3·nH2O) and iron(III) oxide-hydroxide (FeO(OH ...
ed. The composition was returned to pure nickel after both wars. More recently, in 1982, the same copper-nickel alloy used in the American coin was adopted in the Canadian coin, with the ironic result that the nickel then contained less nickel than any other circulating Canadian coin except the cent
Cent may refer to:
Currency
* Cent (currency), a one-hundredth subdivision of several units of currency
* Penny (Canadian coin), a Canadian coin removed from circulation in 2013
* 1 cent (Dutch coin), a Dutch coin minted between 1941 and 1944
* ...
. Since late in 2000, the nickel is now generally made with plated steel. Since the plating is now done after the blanks are punched, the edges of the modern coins receive the plating. Portions of the 2001 and 2006 issues were struck in cupronickel, and can be identified by the lack of the letter "P" under Queen Elizabeth's portrait, and for their non-magnetic quality.
Starting with the 1942 tombac coins, the nickel was made dodecagon
In geometry, a dodecagon or 12-gon is any twelve-sided polygon.
Regular dodecagon
A regular dodecagon is a figure with sides of the same length and internal angles of the same size. It has twelve lines of reflective symmetry and rotational sym ...
al, presumably to help distinguish it from the cent
Cent may refer to:
Currency
* Cent (currency), a one-hundredth subdivision of several units of currency
* Penny (Canadian coin), a Canadian coin removed from circulation in 2013
* 1 cent (Dutch coin), a Dutch coin minted between 1941 and 1944
* ...
after it tarnished in circulation. Tombac was removed from the nickel in 1944 (to be replaced by steel, as noted during the Korean war) but the coins in Tombac, steel, or 99.9% nickel all remained twelve-sided until 1963.
All of these coins were lighter than the US version, which is minted to be as close as possible to five grams. Canadian 99.9% nickel five-cent coins are nearly 0.5 gram lighter than this, and its present steel coins are a full gram lighter than US "nickels."
1921 five-cent coin
Five-cent coins dated 1921 are among the rarest and most collectible Canadian circulation coins, known as "The Prince of Canadian Coins." Estimates of the number of specimens known range between 400 and 480. In May 1921 the government of Canada passed an act authorizing the change to the larger nickel coin, and subsequently the majority of the 1921 mint run was melted down. The coin believed to be the finest known specimen (PCGS MS-67) sold for at auction in January 2010. It was then sold by the Canadian Numismatic Company for $160,000 to a private collector in early 2012.
Types and specifications
Commemorative nickels
Although not strictly a commemorative, the "Victory nickel", struck from 1943 to 1945, was the first non-standard circulating Canadian coin other than commemorative dollars
Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, Un ...
; the reverse features a flaming torch and a large V that stands for both Victory and the coin's denomination. The rim denticles were replaced by the phrase "We win when we work willingly" in Morse Code
Morse code is a method used in telecommunication to encode text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code is named after Samuel Morse, one of ...
. This design was re-used in 2005 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of V-E Day
Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easter ...
. Almost uniquely in the history of Canadian coinage, the reverse was engraved to scale by Thomas Shingles
Thomas Shingles (3 April 1903 – 31 May 1984) was the Master Engraver of the Royal Canadian Mint from 1943 until his retirement in 1965; he first began work at the Mint in 1939. He was born in Birmingham, England.
Shingles was responsible fo ...
; most coin designs are engraved at a much larger scale and reduced with a pantograph
A pantograph (, from their original use for copying writing) is a mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a second pen. If a line dr ...
.
In 1951, a special commemorative five-cent piece depicting a nickel refinery was struck to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the metal's initial discovery by Swedish chemist Axel F. Cronstedt. Due to the onset of the Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, production of this commemorative was halted to preserve nickel for the war effort, resulting in a second non-commemorative 1951 "nickel" made of plated steel.
In 1967, all the circulating coins received a special reverse for the Canadian Centennial
The Canadian Centennial was a yearlong celebration held in 1967 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation. Celebrations in Canada occurred throughout the year but culminated on Dominion Day, July 1, 1967. Commemorative coins w ...
; the nickel featured a rabbit.
In proof sets issued since 1996, the five cent coin is made of sterling silver. Some commemorative five cent coins are also made of sterling silver.
Mintage
See also
* Big Nickel
The Big Nickel is a nine-metre (30 ft) replica of a 1951 Canadian nickel, located at the grounds of the Dynamic Earth science museum in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, and is the world's largest depiction of a coin. The twelve-sided nickel ...
References
External links
*
Value of Canadian Nickel
{{Canadian currency and coinage
1858 establishments in Canada
Five-cent coins
Coins of Canada
Coin
A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...
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