Nickel (Canadian coin)

Nickel ( Canada )
Value:	0.05 CAD
Mass:	3.95 g
Diameter:	21.2 mm
Thickness:	1.76 mm
Edge:	smooth
Composition:	94.5% steel, 3.5% Cu, 2% Ni
Years of Minting:	1922–present
Catalog Number:	–
Obverse
Design:	Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada
Designer:	Susanna Blunt
Design Date:	2003
Reverse
Design:	beaver sitting on a log
Designer:	G.E. Kruger Gray
Design Date:	1937

A Canadian nickel is a mint deserving five cents, patterned on the correspond mint in the neighbor United States, and introduced in Canada in 1922. Prior to that year, canadian five-cent pieces were belittled silver coins, colloquially known as “ fish scales ” due to their having been very reduce .

History

Unlike the U.S. mint of the lapp name, canadian nickels were actually struck in 100 % nickel primitively ( their american counterparts being 75 % copper and only 25 % nickel ). This changed in 1942, ascribable to the need to use all available nickel for military purposes due to World War II ; in that year the composition became a brass section admixture normally referred to as “ tombac ”. The shape of the coin was concomitantly changed from round to dodecagonal, or 12-sided, most likely in an feat to make it well distinguishable from the bull 1-cent coins ; but a deficit of copper forced another change in the composition, thus in 1944 the admixture was changed to chromium -plated sword, which gave the coins a distinct “ amobarbital sodium ” tint. Nickel was reinstated in 1946 ( the 12-sided shape was retained until 1963, when the coins again became round ). In 1948 the dies were delayed coming from the Royal Mint in London, England and some coins of all denominations bearing the 1947 date were struck in 1948 with a maple leaf to denote the incorrectly year.

In 1951, a limited commemorative five-cent piece was struck to celebrate the two-hundredth anniversary of the alloy ‘s initial discovery, but production of the mint had to be halted before the year even ended as the resultant role of another war-driven nickel deficit, this one fetch about by the Korean War. The chrome steel alloy ( which was magnetic ) was then pressed into service again, this time through 1954. The coins reverted to nickel again the pursuit class. In 1982 the musical composition was changed to the lapp as that of the american five-cent piece— cupronickel ( 75 % bull and 25 % nickel ). In 2000 nickel-plated steel nickels were introduced, although production of the cupronickel translation continued until 2001.

History of Composition [1]

Years	Mass	Diameter/Shape	Composition
2000–present	3.95 g	21.2 mm, round	94.5% steel, 3.5% copper, 2% nickel plating
1982–2001	4.6 g	21.2 mm, round	75% copper, 25% nickel
1963–1981	4.54 g	21.21 mm, round	99.9% nickel
1955–1962	4.54 g	21.21 mm, 12-sided	99.9% nickel
1951–1954	4.54 g	21.21 mm, 12-sided	chrome-plated steel
1946–1950	4.54 g	21.21 mm, 12-sided	99.9% nickel
1944–1945	4.54 g	21.21 mm, 12-sided	chrome-plated steel
1942–1943	4.54 g	21.21 mm, 12-sided	88% copper, 12% zinc (“tombac”)
1922–1942	4.54 g	21.21 mm, round	99.9% nickel
1920–1921	1.167 g	14.494 mm, round	80% silver, 20% copper
1858–1919	1.167 g	14.494 mm, round	92.5% silver, 7.5% copper

1921

Five-cent coins date 1921 are among the rare and most collectible canadian circulation coins, with approximately 400 specimens known. In May of 1921 the government of Canada passed an act authorizing the variety to the larger nickel mint, and subsequently the majority of the 1921 mint run was melted down. [ 1 ]

Commemoratives

Year	Theme	Artist	Mintage	Composition
1943	Victory Design	Thomas Shingles	24,760,256	88% copper, 12% zinc
1944	Victory Design	Thomas Shingles	11,532,784	88% copper, 12% zinc
1945	Victory Design	Thomas Shingles	18,893,216	88% copper, 12% zinc
1951	200th Anniversary, Isolation of Nickel	Stephan Trenka	8,329,321	100% Nickel
1967	Centennial Design, Rabbit	Alex Colville	36,876,574	100% Nickel
1992	125th Anniversary of Confederation, Double Dated	G.E. Kruger Gray	53,732,000	75% Copper, 25% Nickel
2005	Victory Design, 60th Anniversary, End of World War II	Thomas Shingles	N/A	94.5% steel, 3.5% Copper, 2% Nickel

Victory Nickels
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The 2005 Victory Nickel	The 1945 Victory Nickel

First Strikes

Year	Theme	Mintage	Issue Price
2005	Beaver	1,855	$14.95
2005	Victory	10,955	$14.95
2006	With New Mint Mark	5,000	$29.95

Trivia

• Victory Nickel: Victory Reverse, V also indicating the denomination in Roman numerals. A morse code pattern was also used instead of rim denticles spelling out “WE WIN WHEN WE WORK WILLINGLY”.
• The first commemoratives were planned for 1927 to celebrate Canada’s 60th anniversary. A contest was held and the winners were Gustav Hahn for the one-cent, and J.A.H. MacDonald for the five and twenty-five cents. The RCM decided to not turn the designs into coinage. [2]
• When coinage was changed in 1937, the caribou was planned for the 5-cent coin, the beaver was planned for the 10-cent coin, and the Bluenose was planned for the 25 cent coin. [3]
• The Big Nickel, a nine-metre (30-foot) replica of the 1951 nickel which stands on the grounds of Dynamic Earth in Sudbury, Ontario, is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest coin.

References

1. ^ Coins of Canada, J.A. Haxby & R.C. Willey, Unitrade Press (2003), ISBN 1-894763-09-2
2. ^ Striking Impressions, James A. Haxby, 1983, ISBN 0-660-91234-1
3. ^ Striking Impressions, James A. Haxby, 1983, ISBN 0-660-91234-1

See also

• Big Nickel
• Nickel (U.S. coin)
• NUFN Organization