Penny (Canadian coin)

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In Canada a penny is a coin worth one cent or ¹⁄₁₀₀ of a dollar. According to the Royal Canadian Mint, the official national term of the coin is the "1 cent coin", but in practice the term penny or cent is universal. Penny was likely readily adopted because the previous coinage in Canada (up to 1858) was the British monetary system, where Canada used British pounds and pence as coinage.

The first Canadian cents were struck in 1858 and were larger than today, a little larger than a 25 cent piece (quarter). They were used in the colonies of Upper and Lower Canada and adopted by the colonies of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia upon Confederation in 1867. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia issued their own coinage prior to that date. The high price of copper forced a reduction to the current size in 1920.

In Canadian French, the penny is also called a cent, which is spelled the same way as the French word for "hundred" but is pronounced (and occasionally spelt) cenne. Slang terms include cenne noire or sou noir, "black penny."

Like all Canadian coins, the obverse depicts the reigning monarch at the time of issue.

The current coin has a round, smooth edge, and this has been the case for most of its history; however, from 1982 to 1996, the coin was twelve-sided. This was done to help the visually impaired identify the coin.^[1]

A special reverse side, depicting a rock dove, was issued in 1967 as part of a Centennial commemoration.

[edit] History of composition [1]

Years	Weight	Diameter/Shape	Composition
2000–present	2.35 g	19.05 mm, round	94% steel, 1.5% nickel, 4.5% copper plated zinc
1997–1999	2.25 g	19.05 mm, round	98.4% zinc, 1.6% copper plating
1982–1996	2.5 g	19.1 mm, 12-sided	98% copper, 1.75% tin, 0.25% zinc
1980–1981	2.8 g	19.0 mm, round	98% copper, 1.75% tin, 0.25% zinc
1978–1979	3.24 g	19.05 mm, round	98% copper, 1.75% tin, 0.25% zinc
1942–1977	3.24 g	19.05 mm, round	98% copper, 0.5% tin, 1.5% zinc
1920–1941	3.24 g	19.05 mm, round	95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc
1876–1920	5.67 g	25.4 mm, round	95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc
1858–1859	4.54 g	25.4 mm, round	95% copper, 4% tin, 1% zinc

Since May of 2006, all circulation Canadian pennies from 1942 to 1996 have an intrinsic value of over $0.02 USD based on the increasing spot price of copper in the commodity markets. [2]

Canadian banknotes and coins Topics: Bank of Canada | Canadian dollar | Commemorative coins | Royal Canadian Mint Canadian banknotes: $5 | $10 | $20 | $50 | $100 | Withdrawn banknotes Canadian coinage: 1¢ | 5¢ | 10¢ | 25¢ | 50¢ | $1 (Loonie) | $2 (Toonie)

[edit] References

1. ^ Coins of Canada, J.A. Haxby & R.C. Willey, Unitrade Press (2002), ISBN 1-894763-09-2

[edit] External links

• Coinage Designs of 1967