The Canadian One Cent Coin - The Canadian Penny

The Canadian Penny first made it's appearance in 1858. The first Canadian one cent coins were coined at the Royal Mint in London England and then shipped to the Canada. The penny's value was set at one hundredths of a dollar.

It was not until January 2, 1908 at the newly opened Royal Mint in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, that the Canadian penny was finally made at a Canadian mint.

The Canadian penny's metal composition was 95.5% copper, 1.5% zinc, and 3% tin, from 1908 - 1920. The Canadian 1 cent coin then weighed in at 5.67 grams and had a diameter of 25.4 mm.

Although the penny's metal composition remained the same in 1920 the size of the Canadian penny shrank. The Canadian one cent coin now had a diameter of a mere19.05 mm. and a weight of 3.24 grams.

Then in 1942 the Canadian 1 cent coin's metal composition was altered to consist of 98 percent copper, 1.75 percent zinc and .5 percent tin.

Because of the rising cost of precious metals, and the fact that it now cost more than the value of a penny to mint one, the metals within the Canadian one cent coin were designed in 1997 to no longer consist mainly of copper.

Canadian pennies from 1997 to 1999 metal compisiton was now 98.4 percent zinc and 1.6 percent copper plate. In the year 2000 the Canadian pennies compostion changed to 94 percent steel, 4.5 percent copper plate, and 1.5 percent nickel. The Canadian penny's modern weight coming in at 2.25 grams and the diameter of the coin's surface measuring 19.05 mm.

The Royalty on each Canadian one cent coin are as follows:
1858 to 1901 Queen Victoria,
1902 and 1910 Edward Vll
1911 to 1936 George V
1937 to 1952 George V1
1953 to present day Queen Elizabeth.

In 1967, the 100 year anniversary of Canada's Confederation, the image of a rock dove made it's appearance onto each Canadian penny minted for general circulation that year. The Dove depicted on the Canadian Centenial penny was the work of Alex Colville. Alex Colville was commissioned to create the unique images for each of the Canadian coins produced to celebrate Canada's Centennial year.

The penny is the most collected Canadian coin in Canada, but this is not because of this copper coin's high monetary value, the collecting of Canada's 1 cent coin is more because of it's small monetary value. Pennies are tucked away and then forgotten within piggy banks, tin cans, mason jars, coin purses, coffee mugs, and keepsake boxes. They fall between the cracks in floor boards, and into the stuffing of chairs and couches, and are left forgotten there. Too small a monetary value to bother retreiving at the current time and then forgotten.

When you stop to add up the value of the thousands of pennies just sitting around in homes it is quite an astounding figure. It adds up to a lot of Canadian pennies that are out of circulation.

This storing up of pennies actually caused a shortage of pennies within Canada. With the rising costs of producing the penny the Canadian Government began asking people to cash in their pennies, and offering advice on how they could do so.

A four liter mason jar holds in coins:

4,992 pennies and this equals out to $49.92

8,400 dimes and this amounts to a whopping $840.00

3,411 quarters which is (holy crow!) an amazing $852.75

Change really does add up, so take the time to dig yours out, and cash it in. You just might be able to afford that vacation you have been putting off.

Due the small denomination of the one cent coin, there were suggestions that the penny be removed from circulation, and this notion was actually put under serious discussion.

Fortunately It was discovered that Canadians really do love their pennies. There is a great sentimental attachment to this tiny copy colored coin that manages to keep the Canadian penny in circulation. The penny holds a certain charm within it that other coins are just not able to acquire.

Perhaps it is images of lucky pennies found, memories of pennies tossed into waiting wishing wells, or sayings such as "a penny saved....." that keep the Canadian penny safe within our hearts and wallets.

There are absolutely no plans at this time for removing the penny from our the Canadian monetary system. Pennies are a very important part of Canadian History, Canadian sentiments, and Canadian life.

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