1908 to 2016 · 109 years on record
The 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.
Richest silver standard, .925
Silver value, Canadian dollars
0.3456 troy ounces at US$63.83 per ounce, converted at 1.3909 (Bank of Canada, 2026-09-14). At last page build
Every composition, in the Mint’s own words
Where two periods overlap on a year, the metal changed during that year and both coins carry the same date. The silver column is calculated from the weight and fineness in the same row, not transcribed from anywhere.
| Years | Composition | Weight | Diameter | Silver | Magnet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1908 - 1919 | 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper | 11.62 g | 29.72 mm | 0.3456 ozt | not attracted |
| 1920 - 1967 | 80% silver, 20% copper | 11.66 g | 29.72 mm | 0.2999 ozt | not attracted |
| 1968 - 1979 | 99% nickel (minimum) | 8.1 g | 27.13 mm | none | attracted |
| 1980 - 1999 | 99% nickel (minimum) | 8.1 g | 27.13 mm | none | attracted |
| 2000 to date | 93.15% steel, 4.75% copper, 2.1% nickel plating | 6.9 g | 27.13 mm | none | attracted |
Reading this denomination
The Mint publishes a silver-bearing composition for the 50-cent coin from 1908 to 1967. A coin dated after 1967 has no silver in it, whatever it looks like, and the only thing that separates the two is the date. That is the whole sorting rule, and it is why this site is organised by year rather than by how a coin looks.
The Mint reports a mintage of zero in 1915, 1922 to 1928, 1930, 1933, 1935, 2003 to 2004. A coin dated in one of those years should not exist, and each of those years still has a page here because the question gets asked.
Across the 109 years the Mint reports, 172,602,247 50-cent coins were struck. That is a count of coins made and not of coins that survive. Silver denominations in particular were withdrawn and melted in quantity once the metal was worth more than the face value, which is exactly what happened in Canada at the end of the 1960s.
Years on record
1908 to 2016
109 rows. The Mint’s table begins in 1908, the year the Ottawa mint opened. Earlier Canadian coins were struck in England and the Mint publishes no figures for them.
Silver standards struck
- .925 1908 - 1919 · 0.3456 ozt
- .800 1920 - 1967 · 0.2999 ozt
What one sells for
We publish no catalogue values. Completed sales are what people actually paid.
Completed sales, newest first, so you are looking at what buyers paid rather than what sellers are asking. Affiliate link: we may earn a commission if you buy, at no cost to you, and it changes nothing on this page.
Every year
A filled underline marks a year with silver in it
- 1908
- 1909
- 1910
- 1911
- 1912
- 1913
- 1914
- 1915
- 1916
- 1917
- 1918
- 1919
- 1920
- 1921
- 1922
- 1923
- 1924
- 1925
- 1926
- 1927
- 1928
- 1929
- 1930
- 1931
- 1932
- 1933
- 1934
- 1935
- 1936
- 1937
- 1938
- 1939
- 1940
- 1941
- 1942
- 1943
- 1944
- 1945
- 1946
- 1947
- 1948
- 1949
- 1950
- 1951
- 1952
- 1953
- 1954
- 1955
- 1956
- 1957
- 1958
- 1959
- 1960
- 1961
- 1962
- 1963
- 1964
- 1965
- 1966
- 1967
- 1968
- 1969
- 1970
- 1971
- 1972
- 1973
- 1974
- 1975
- 1976
- 1977
- 1978
- 1979
- 1980
- 1981
- 1982
- 1983
- 1984
- 1985
- 1986
- 1987
- 1988
- 1989
- 1990
- 1991
- 1992
- 1993
- 1994
- 1995
- 1996
- 1997
- 1998
- 1999
- 2000
- 2001
- 2002
- 2003
- 2004
- 2005
- 2006
- 2007
- 2008
- 2009
- 2010
- 2011
- 2012
- 2013
- 2014
- 2015
- 2016
Mintage by year
| Year | Mintage | Silver in one coin | Composition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 800,000 | none | 93.15% steel, 4.75% copper, 2.1% nickel plating |
| 2015 | 625,000 | none | 93.15% steel, 4.75% copper, 2.1% nickel plating |
| 2014 | 500,000 | none | 93.15% steel, 4.75% copper, 2.1% nickel plating |
| 2013 | 375,000 | none | 93.15% steel, 4.75% copper, 2.1% nickel plating |
| 2012 | 250,000 | none | 93.15% steel, 4.75% copper, 2.1% nickel plating |
| 2011 | 175,000 | none | 93.15% steel, 4.75% copper, 2.1% nickel plating |
| 2010 | 150,000 | none | 93.15% steel, 4.75% copper, 2.1% nickel plating |
| 2009 | 150,000 | none | 93.15% steel, 4.75% copper, 2.1% nickel plating |
| 2008 | 211,000 | none | 93.15% steel, 4.75% copper, 2.1% nickel plating |
| 2007 | 250,000 | none | 93.15% steel, 4.75% copper, 2.1% nickel plating |
| 2006 | 98,000 | none | 93.15% steel, 4.75% copper, 2.1% nickel plating |
| 2005 | 200,000 | none | 93.15% steel, 4.75% copper, 2.1% nickel plating |
| 2004 | none struck | none | 93.15% steel, 4.75% copper, 2.1% nickel plating |
| 2003 | none struck | none | 93.15% steel, 4.75% copper, 2.1% nickel plating |
| 2002 | 14,440,000 | none | 93.15% steel, 4.75% copper, 2.1% nickel plating |
| 2001 | 403,000 | none | 93.15% steel, 4.75% copper, 2.1% nickel plating |
| 2000 | 559,000 | none | 93.15% steel, 4.75% copper, 2.1% nickel plating |
| 1999 | 496,000 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1998 | 308,000 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1997 | 387,000 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1996 | 458,000 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1995 | 626,000 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1994 | 987,000 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1993 | 393,000 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1992 | 248,000 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1991 | 490,000 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1990 | 207,000 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1989 | 266,419 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1988 | 220,000 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1987 | 373,000 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1986 | 781,400 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1985 | 2,188,374 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1984 | 1,502,989 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1983 | 1,177,000 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1982 | 2,884,572 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1981 | 2,588,900 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1980 | 1,943,155 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1979 | 3,425,000 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1978 | 3,341,892 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1977 | 709,939 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1976 | 2,646,000 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1975 | 3,710,000 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1974 | 3,436,650 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1973 | 2,546,096 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1972 | 2,515,632 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1971 | 2,166,144 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1970 | 2,429,516 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1969 | 7,113,929 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1968 | 3,966,932 | none | 99% nickel (minimum) |
| 1967 | 4,211,395 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1966 | 7,683,228 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1965 | 12,629,974 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1964 | 9,377,676 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1963 | 8,348,871 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1962 | 5,208,030 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1961 | 3,584,417 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1960 | 3,488,897 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1959 | 3,095,535 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1958 | 2,957,266 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1957 | 2,171,689 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1956 | 1,379,499 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1955 | 753,511 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1954 | 506,305 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1953 | 1,630,429 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1952 | 2,596,465 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1951 | 2,421,730 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1950 | 2,384,179 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1949 | 858,991 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1948 | 37,784lowest 2 of 96 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1947 | 463,318 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1946 | 950,235 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1945 | 1,959,528 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1944 | 2,460,205 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1943 | 3,109,583 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1942 | 1,974,165 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1941 | 1,714,874 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1940 | 1,996,566 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1939 | 287,976 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1938 | 192,018 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1937 | 192,016 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1936 | 38,550lowest 3 of 96 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1935 | none struck | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1934 | 39,539lowest 4 of 96 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1933 | none struck | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1932 | 19,213lowest 1 of 96 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1931 | 57,581lowest 5 of 96 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1930 | none struck | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1929 | 228,328 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1928 | none struck | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1927 | none struck | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1926 | none struck | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1925 | none struck | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1924 | none struck | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1923 | none struck | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1922 | none struck | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1921 | 206,398 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1920 | 584,429 | 0.2999 ozt | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| 1919 | 1,113,429 | 0.3456 ozt | 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper |
| 1918 | 854,989 | 0.3456 ozt | 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper |
| 1917 | 752,213 | 0.3456 ozt | 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper |
| 1916 | 459,070 | 0.3456 ozt | 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper |
| 1915 | none struck | 0.3456 ozt | 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper |
| 1914 | 160,128 | 0.3456 ozt | 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper |
| 1913 | 265,889 | 0.3456 ozt | 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper |
| 1912 | 285,867 | 0.3456 ozt | 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper |
| 1911 | 209,972 | 0.3456 ozt | 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper |
| 1910 | 649,521 | 0.3456 ozt | 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper |
| 1909 | 203,118 | 0.3456 ozt | 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper |
| 1908 | 128,119 | 0.3456 ozt | 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper |
Mintage is a count of coins struck in a calendar year. It is not a count of coins that still exist, and the Mint says so itself: there is no record of how many coins were later returned and melted. Treat a low figure as a hint about scarcity rather than as a measurement of it.