In 2012 the Royal Canadian Mint completed its penny production, and the series officially closed, but the Canadian government did not remove the penny coins already in use. This could have been good or bad news for coin collectors. Here was an inexpensive coin that got many into the hobby, and it could be easily found. Now, the real question was would other Canadian one cent pieced soar in value, and would this coin become scarce. Coin collecting is, after all, subject to supply and demand. The penny was simply stopped, but the incredible number of one cent coins in circulation were allowed to remain available to the public.
On the surface it would seem the demand could eventually suffer, since this easy entry into the hobby has closed. But, is not the nickel still affordable? Perhaps the number of collectors will remain essentially unaffected. This is important, because without new collectors the value of collections of other coins could drop, as the current collectors either lose interest or die off.
The Canadian Penny
Prices Remain Low for Many Older Coins
Five different monarchs have had their effigy on the penny, starting with Queen Victoria, and followed in order by King Edward VII, King George V, King George VI, and Queen Elizabeth II. Traditionally, the monarch faces the opposite way, giving the opposite profile, than did the preceding monarch. Perhaps this is to allow for easy identification. The one notable exception was King George VI faces left, as does his father, King George V. Perhaps it is because his brother was King Edward VIII for less than a year before abdicating the throne. Many countries use the British monarch effigy, and a few rare coins do exist with the effigy of King Edward VIII. So, whatever way King George VI faced, some countries would not have the reversal of direction.
In 1920 both large and small pennies were minted. The smaller size remained the standard until the end.
Several different reverse designs have been used, and even the obverse has been updated several times. Unfortunately, the value of the metal used to make the pennies eventually ended the long history of this coin. No updating could save the penny from rising costs.
One reason the Canadian large cent coins have remained affordable is that, unlike coins of the United States, they were minted later and in large enough supplies. The large cent in United States coinage ended in 1858, a time when Canada was first minting large cents. Newer circulation coins generally mean fewer would be lost or damaged to such an extent as to be undesirable. While United States MS-4 coins can price at twenty-five dollars or more, many older Canadian large cent coins can be had for three dollars or less, except for some key and semi-key dates. Those from later years can be had for less than one dollar. And, after the cessation of penny production, these low prices held close to what they had been.
A few of the older large cent coins bear the H mint mark from the Heath Mint at Birmingham, England. This would distinguish those coins from those struck at the Royal Mint, also in England. Now, the Royal Canadian Mint strikes Canadian coins. Generally, H mint marks are few on one cent coins, there have been only five large cent coin issues to bear it.
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Large Silver Penny
5 Troy Ounces of 0.9999 Silver
In 2012, the Royal Canadian Mint struck a five Troy ounce 0.9999 fine silver coin to end the penny. Although it is huge, and has well oven one cent of silver in each coin, the denomination is one cent. This trivial denomination does allow the coin to be a true coin, not a medallion. What a grand finale.
Province Coins
Pennies
The Canadian confederation did not just happen in a day. Provinces joined over time. But, provinces needed money. Province coins do exist in reasonable prices, so collecting them is still possible. Provinces with one cent coins issued in the past include New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.
1908 - 1998 Large Cent
90th Anniversary
The special double dated penny differs from the 1908 penny in the double date, the metal being silver instead of bronze, and the monarch being Queen Elizabeth II instead of King Edward VII. By chance both Queen Elizabeth II and King Edward VII face right. By tradition, each monarch faces the opposite way as the last, but there is no reversal between King George V and King George VI. The brief reign of King Edward VIII had no penny minted by the Royal Canadian Mint, but the reversal of direction of the effigy left the facing right vacant between the two left facing monarchs. Had this not happened the effigy would also have been reversed, but the fact is both King Edward VII and Queen Elizabeth II face the same way.
