Canadian 50-cent coin · 1937 - 1958

The simplified Coat of Arms

A simplified version of Canada's Coat of Arms was created in 1937 for the 50-cent coin as part of an initiative to modernize Canada's circulation coins.

What a coin with this design is made of

Every year of this design falls inside a period the Mint records as silver-bearing, so any circulated example carries silver. How much depends on the date, because the fineness changed within the run.

Across the years the Mint reports for this design, 32,998,332 50-cent coins were struck.

Denomination

Canadian 50-cent coin

Silver until 1967 and struck only in small numbers since. It is legal tender that almost never appears in change, so most surviving examples are in collections.

What these sell for

Sold listings

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Every year of this design

Year	Composition	Silver	Mintage
1937	80% silver, 20% copper	0.2999 ozt .800	192,016
1938	80% silver, 20% copper	0.2999 ozt .800	192,018
1939	80% silver, 20% copper	0.2999 ozt .800	287,976
1940	80% silver, 20% copper	0.2999 ozt .800	1,996,566
1941	80% silver, 20% copper	0.2999 ozt .800	1,714,874
1942	80% silver, 20% copper	0.2999 ozt .800	1,974,165
1943	80% silver, 20% copper	0.2999 ozt .800	3,109,583
1944	80% silver, 20% copper	0.2999 ozt .800	2,460,205
1945	80% silver, 20% copper	0.2999 ozt .800	1,959,528
1946	80% silver, 20% copper	0.2999 ozt .800	950,235
1947	80% silver, 20% copper	0.2999 ozt .800	463,318
1948	80% silver, 20% copper	0.2999 ozt .800	37,784
1949	80% silver, 20% copper	0.2999 ozt .800	858,991
1950	80% silver, 20% copper	0.2999 ozt .800	2,384,179
1951	80% silver, 20% copper	0.2999 ozt .800	2,421,730
1952	80% silver, 20% copper	0.2999 ozt .800	2,596,465
1953	80% silver, 20% copper	0.2999 ozt .800	1,630,429
1954	80% silver, 20% copper	0.2999 ozt .800	506,305
1955	80% silver, 20% copper	0.2999 ozt .800	753,511
1956	80% silver, 20% copper	0.2999 ozt .800	1,379,499
1957	80% silver, 20% copper	0.2999 ozt .800	2,171,689
1958	80% silver, 20% copper	0.2999 ozt .800	2,957,266

Other 50 cents reverses

1858 - 1936

The crossed maple boughs

1959 - 1966, 1968 - present

The modified Coat of Arms

1967

The centennial 50-cent coin

1997 - present

The modified Coat of Arms

The design name, its period and the description above are reproduced from the Royal Canadian Mint’s reverse design notes for the 50-cent coin, retrieved 2026-09-04. Compositions and mintages come from the same page. This site publishes no variety, grade or catalogue distinctions, because those are not in the Mint’s record. Methodology.