Canadian 50c coin

[tonyclayton]

Victorian 50c coins are difficult to find.  This one has been well circulated but a very welcome item in my collection.

[Figleaf]

A number of my early Dominon silver coins (Victoria and Edward) have the same funny patina, all at the edge. It reminds me of the IT adage: bugs you can't fix are features

Peter

[BC Numismatics]

Tony,
  All of the Canadian 50c. coins of Queen Victoria are catalogued very high,even in V.G. grade.

1870 is the first year that the Dominion of Canada started issuing coins,as the 1858-59 coins of the Province of Canada remained in circulation,along with the colonial decimal coins from New Brunswick,Nova Scotia,& Prince Edward Island,& British coins were still in circulation in Canada for a few years after 1867.

Aidan.

[tonyclayton]

Here are two more 50c coins of Edward VII and George V. Sadly
they too are not in the best of condition, but adequate.

When I stayed in Canada for seven months during 1962 50c coins were used a lot,
but whereas George V coins of 25c or less were not too uncommon, I
do not recall seeing a 50c of that era at that time.  Mind you, US walking liberty
halves circulated a lot also, but because of the exchange rate premium
US coins of 25c and above were relatively uncommon.  US cents were
about 20% of the cents in circulation.

[Figleaf]

I had the same experience. The bad news is that early silver coins are mostly offered in low grade, but the good news is that there are plenty of coins in low grade. On the small coins it's OK, but the larger the coin, the worse they look. I try to get most of my coins in VF or better. With Canadian early silver that was beyond my budget.

Peter