As Canadians begin to learn to live without the penny, I thought that it would be a good time for some penny facts….
- The penny was first minted by the Canadian Government in 1858. It Weighed 4.54 grams, and comprised of 95% copper. It had a mintage of approximately 421,000.
- With Inflation a 1870 penny would be worth approximately 31 Cents today
- Rarest Canadian Penny is the 1936 Dot Coin. There are only 3 known specimens. In January 2010 a 1936 coin sold for $400,000 dollars at auction.
Check your pennies….
- The maple leaf image that we have known for so many years was first struck in 1937, with the iconic image being designed by G.E. Kruger Gray, and had remained the same since with the only exception being that of the 1967 for the Centennial Celebrations
1937 Penny Canada’s Iconic Maple Leaf Image
Only Deviation from Iconic Maple Leaf Design
- Queen Victoria (1858-1901), King Edward VII(1902-1910), King George V (1911-1936), King George VI (1937-1952), and Queen Elizabeth II (1953-2012) have all been the face of the penny.
- 2006 was the highest mintage of the Canadian penny at over 1.2 billion Pennies struck.
- Last penny was struck on May 4th 2012. It weighed 2.35 grams (almost half the weight of the original penny), and comprised of 94% steel. Only 4.5% was copper plating. It cost approximately 1.6 cents to make the 1 cent coin.
- Although it is no longer being produced, the penny remains a legal tender of Canada
What will you do with your pennies….