Canadian 1-dollar coin · Elizabeth II

2008 Canadian 1 dollar

A 2008 Canadian 1-dollar coin contains no silver.

No silver

Reported mintage, 2008

29,561,000

The Mint records this coin as 91.5% nickel, 8.5% bronze plating. There is no melt trade in it and no dealer prices it by weight.

What the Mint says it is made of

PeriodCompositionWeightSilverDiameterMagnet
2003 - 201291.5% nickel, 8.5% bronze plating7 gnone26.5 mmattracted

How many were struck

29,561,000

Reported mintage, 2008

That is the 64th lowest of the 80 years in which the Mint reports striking a 1-dollar coin, in a range running from 18,780 to 205,405,000. Mintage is a count of coins made, not of coins that survive: the Mint has no way of knowing how many of these were later returned and melted, and for a silver denomination in the 1960s that number is large.

Portrait on the obverse

Elizabeth II

Canadian artist, Susanna Blunt, designed the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, again accompanied by the words ELIZABETH II D G REGINA. Blunt's version recalls the effigy of George VI, who also chose to be portrayed without a crown.

Every portrait by year

Designs on the reverse

1987 - 1991, 1993 - present

The Loonie

The 1-dollar bill was replaced in 1987 by a new eleven-sided circulation coin nicknamed the 'Loonie'. Robert-Ralph Carmichael's popular design features a Canadian loon, and is made of aureate bronze.

2008

Lucky Loonie

The 2008 Lucky Loonie features a common Loon getting ready to take flight with the Canadian Olympic Team's logo at its side. The Mint provided each member of the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Teams competing in Beijing with a Lucky Loonie as their own personal good luck charm.

The rest of your 2008 change

Nobody inherits one denomination. If there is a 2008 1-dollar coin in the tin, these are the other coins carrying that date and whether they hold any silver.

DenominationComposition in 2008SilverMintage
1 cent penny94% steel, 1.5% nickel, 4.5% copper platingnone787,625,000
5 cents nickel94.5% steel, 3.5% copper, 2% nickel platingnone278,530,000
10 cents dime92% steel, 5.5% copper, 2.5% nickelnone467,495,000
25 cents quarter94% steel, 3.8% copper, 2.2% nickel platingnone387,222,000
50 cents half dollar93.15% steel, 4.75% copper, 2.1% nickel platingnone211,000
2 dollars toonieouter ring 99% nickel, inner core 92% copper, 6% aluminum, 2% nickelnone18,400,000

Everything Canada struck in 2008

Composition, weight, diameter and mintage are reproduced from the Royal Canadian Mint’s published record for the 1-dollar coin, retrieved 2026-09-04. Silver content is calculated from that published weight and fineness rather than transcribed. Portrait periods come from the Mint’s Faces of the Monarch. No value on this page is a collector price. Methodology.