Most valued and rare Canadian coins ever minted

Canada is well-known for its exquisite modern numismatic items, it is also popular for its antique and valuable rare Canadian coins.  Find the below list of Canadian rarities and find out how these valuable pieces are a vital part of Canadian coinage. This is not a complete list, but these are some of the rarest coins ever produced by the Royal Canadian Mint.

1911 Canadian Silver Dollar

The 1911 Canadian Silver Dollar is considered as one of the world’s most valuable coins.  Only 3 examples were ever struck (2 in silver and 1 in bronze).  The bronze example and 1 silver example are housed at the Canadian Currency Museum in Ottawa, which leaves only 1 example out there for collectors!  At an auction in 2003, this coin fetched nearly 1 million dollars.

1936 dot 1 cent

The famed 1936 Canadian “Dot Cent” combines pedigree, rarity and mystery, and remains a numismatic enigma. One of three examples known.  When King Edward VIII’s sudden abdication happened in late 1936 which saw George VI ascend to the throne.  That event caused a major problem for the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) because they didn’t have any dies with the new king’s effigy on them to strike the 1937 coinage.  Their solution was to produce a small number of 1936 coins with a tiny raised “dot” just below the date to denote that they were struck in 1937.  The RCM reportedly minted 678,823 cents bearing the dot but only three 1936 Dot cents are known to exist. The Royal Canadian Mint did not announce the existence of the 1936 Dot coins, nor were the coins mentioned in the Mint’s annual report. One example sold at a 2010 coin auction for over $400,000

1936 dot 10 Cents

The 1936 “dot” 10-cent piece is also extremely rare.  One example sold at a 2010 coin auction for over $184,000, This dime was actually produced in 1937, and the dot was added to the 1936 design. Very few of these coins exist, perhaps only five. The dot appears at the very bottom of the dime.

1969 Large Date 10 Cents

The 1969 large date 10-cent coin is another extremely rare coin.  From time to time they appear at auction and fetch anywhere from $10,000 to $25,000, depending on the grade, only 16 known examples wold wide.

1916 C £1 Sovereign

The gold 1916-C £1 sovereign was struck at the Ottawa Mint. The 1916 C gold sovereign is the rarest and sells at auction anywhere from $15,000 to $50,000, depending on the grade. The number of survivors and the reasons for their scarcity remains unknown to the numismatic community, known examples are less than 50.

2007 Million Dollar Coin

Produced in 2007 by the Royal Canadian Mint, it was the first coin in the world with a face value of a million dollars. Each specimen was made of 100 kg gold with 99.99% purity. Depicting Queen Elizabeth II on one side and three Maple leaves on the opposite, they were made to promote Canada’s new line of Maple Leaf gold coins. Five of the coins have been purchased so far. One specimen was sold for $4.02 million at an auction in Vienna in 2009.

1906 small crown 25 Cent

The 1906 small crown 25 cent coin is the rarest Canadian quarter.  It is believed that only 1 die was used to strike no more than a hundred examples before being replaced with the large crown die.  Most of the known examples are low-grade circulated examples that are almost completely rubbed off.  There are only a handful of examples (less than 100) that grade above a “Very Good” condition.  These coins in the lowest of grades can fetch over $1,000 and in the higher grades like “Almost Uncirculated” and “Mint State” can fetch well above $50,000.

1921 50 Cents

The 1921 50 cent coin is another classic Canadian rarity.  Charlton lists the original mintage of this coin at 206,398, but almost all of them were melted down because of low demand for 50 cent coins. .As a result, only a handful (less than 75) of these coins exist and many believe that they came from specimen sets and business strikes that were sold to visitors at the mint in 1921.  These coins in various grades can fetch anywhere from $40,000 to $250,000 at auction.

1947 Maple Leaf Silver Dollar

The 1947 Maple Leaf Silver Dollar shares its history with the 1948 silver dollar.  As the RCM awaited new dies to strike the 1948 coins, they used the 1947 dies to fulfill existing demand.  In similar fashion to the 1936 “dot” coins, the mint placed a tiny maple leaf next to the date on the coins to signify that they were struck in 1948.  The listed mintage for these coins is 21,135 but it is also a rare silver dollar.

1948 Canadian Silver Dollar

The 1948 Silver Dollar listed mintage was 18,780 but only a few have survived.  The story behind the low mintage of the 1948 silver dollar has to do with India’s independence in 1947.  Prior to 1948, the obverse of Canadian coins featured the effigy of the reigning monarch with their name and royal title in a Latin inscription.  Part of their royal title included the designation of “emperor of India.”  So this needed to be removed from the dies to strike the 1948 coins.  By the time the mint received the new dies they were only able to produce a small quantity but only less than 1000 known existing.

1921 5 Cents

In 1921 the RCM was looking to introduce a new 5 cent coin made of nickel for the 1922 coinage.  In preparation for its launch, the mint melted down its entire inventory of silver 5 cent coins, nearly all of which were 1921s and less than 400 coins reported existing. All surviving examples are believed to have come from specimen sets and business strikes that were sold to visitors at the mint in 1921.  These coins in various grades can fetch anywhere from $4,000 to $100,000.