1916 Canadian 50 Cent Coin

Quick answers

Is the 1916 Canadian 50 Cent rare?

It is scarcer than most Canadian 50 cent coins. Collectors pay a small premium for good examples.

How many 1916 Canadian 50 cent coins were made?

459,070 were struck for circulation.

What is the 1916 Canadian 50 Cent made of?

Sterling silver (92.5% silver). It weighs 11.62 g and measures 29.72 mm.

Is the 1916 Canadian 50 Cent still legal tender?

Yes. Canadian 50 cent coins are legal tender, but a silver one is worth more for its metal than its face value.

How to recognize it

The 1916 Canadian 50 Cent is round, 29.72 mm across and sterling silver (92.5% silver).

1916 Canadian 50 Cent by the numbers

In mintage terms the 1916 Canadian 50 Cent ranks 60th lowest of 125 Canadian 50 cent dates and varieties from 1870 to 2022. The next scarcer is the 1996 Canadian 50 Cent (458,000); the next more common is the 1991 Canadian 50 Cent (490,000).

For scale, the most common is the 2002 P Golden Jubilee Canadian 50 Cent with 14.4 million, about 31 times as many. The scarcest is the 1932 Canadian 50 Cent with 19,213, 24 times fewer than this one.

Compared with the dates around it, the 1916 output was 2.9 times the 1914 figure and 1.6 times fewer than 1917.

Over the 1910s the Mint produced 4.65 million 50 cent coins across 9 dates and varieties; the 1916 Canadian 50 Cent accounts for 9.9% of that.

What to check on your 1916 Canadian 50 Cent

• Check the date first: silver Canadian 50 cent coins carry dates from 1870 to 1967; this one has 0.3456 troy oz. Silver coins are not magnetic and ring clearly when dropped on a hard surface.
• Never clean it. Rubbing or polishing leaves fine scratches that collectors spot at once and that cut the value of silver dates sharply.
• Look at the high points of the portrait and the design. Wear there sets the grade. The grade in turn drives the value of older 50 cent coins.

George V sterling 50 cents (1911 to 1919)

Bertram Mackennal's crowned and robed portrait of George V, facing left, arrived on coins dated 1911 and it began with a row. The legend read GEORGIVS V REX ET IND: IMP:, leaving out DEI GRA:, the words that say the king rules by the grace of God. Many Canadians objected to these Godless coins and from 1912 the dies carried GEORGIVS V DEI GRA: REX ET IND: IMP:. On the reverse the maple wreath and crown carried on around 50 CENTS and the date.

The coins were still sterling silver, 11.62 g and about 29.7 mm, with roughly 0.35 troy ounces of pure silver, all struck in Ottawa. Output stayed in the low hundreds of thousands through 1914 and no 50 cent pieces are dated 1915. Then the First World War pushed demand up sharply: 459,070 in 1916, 752,213 in 1917, 754,989 in 1918 and 1,113,429 in 1919. The 1919 was the first 50 cent mintage over a million and the last in sterling, because the silver standard was lowered in 1920.

Start with the legend and the date. A 1911 is a one year type and easy to spot because DEI GRA: is missing. The 1914 has the smallest mintage of the sterling George V years, while 1917 to 1919 are the commonest and still turn up in old accumulations. All of these are silver, so even a worn coin is worth more than face value for its metal. Look at the king's crown, his beard and the tips of the maple leaves to judge wear; sharp crown jewels are the mark of a well preserved coin.

Mintage chart

Specifications