Canadian coinage since 1937

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In 1963 the 5 cents coin became round again. Previously it had been 12-sided for many years.

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Canada adopted a new flag in 1965. It incorporated the national symbol of the maple leaf.

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Arnold Machin's effigy of the Queen on a Canadian 5 cents coins of 1965.

In 1960 the UK decided to prepare for a decimal currency. In 1964 Arnold Machin designed the portrait of the Queen that would appear on the UK's first decimal coins of 1968. The Queen agreed that any Commonwealth country or territory that wanted to use the portrait should be allowed to do so.

Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) was the first country to do so. Canada was the second, adopting the Machin effigy in 1965.

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1967 marked the 100th anniversary of the Confederation of Canada. In 1964 the Minister of Finance organised a competition for a set of new design reverses to be issued in Canada's centennial year. The winner of the competition was Alex Colville. His winning designs were issued as a special circulating set in 1967.

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1 cent, 1967.  Rock dove.

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5 cents, 1967.  Rabbit.

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10 cents, 1967.  Mackerel.

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25 cents, 1967.  Lynx.

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50 cents, 1967.  Wolf.

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1 dollar, 1967.  Canada goose.

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In 1968 the circulation coinage reverted to the standard design versions.

Unlike some other countries, Canada had continued to mint some of its coins in silver long after the Second World War. By now the value of silver had risen so much that it was no longer considered practical to mint circulation coins in that metal. 1968 was a year of transition, in which the 10 and 25 cents coin, which had previously been minted only in silver, were minted in two versions: nickel and silver. From 1969 those coins were minted in nickel only.

The regular 50 cents and dollar coins had also previously been minted in silver, but in 1968 and afterwards they were minted in nickel.

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In 1968 there were apparently four different types of the regular 10 cents coin. The Ottawa Mint produced a nickel version and a silver version, and the Philadelphia Mint did likewise - in 1968 only.

If you have any more details on the differences between these types, please post them in the comments topic.

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By 1969 the design of the schooner on the 10 cents coin had a much clearer outline.

Compare it to the design on the 1946 version of the coin.

Canadian numismatist Henry Nienhuis explains:

I am not sure if the die change in 1969 was because of difficulties going to full nickel production or not, but there was a minor design change that happened at that time. In 1969, the schooner (Bluenose) is more detailed and the water transition at the rim has a square edge versus the softer details previously. There was also a font change to a smaller more round date, which resulted in the very rare 1969 large date variety. Note that the nickel transition actually took place in 1968, with 172 million nickel 10-cent coins released to buffer the withdrawal of silver coins.

 
 

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In 1973 Canada issued a circulating 25 cents coin to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The attractive design on the reverse was the work of Paul Cedarberg.

Mr Cedarberg's initials are seen on the design.

Patrick Brindley engraved the design. His initial 'B' also appeared on the coin.

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By the end of the 1970s, the 1 cent coin was becoming too expensive relative to its face value. In 1980 and 1981 the coin was minted in copper instead of bronze. It also had a reduced weight of 2.8 g compared to the 3.24 g of the bronze coin.

Nickel was also becoming more expensive, so the 5 cents coin was minted in copper-nickel from 1981 onward.