1919 Canadian 50 Cent Coin
The 1919 Canadian 50 Cent is a Canadian 50 cent coin struck for circulation with 1.11 million made. Value band: metal value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1919
- Circulation mintage
- 1,113,429
- Value band
- Metal value
- Composition
- Sterling silver (92.5% silver)
Original illustration of the coin's shape and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1919 Canadian 50 Cent worth?
The 1919 Canadian 50 Cent is a silver coin with 0.3456 troy ounces of pure silver, so its floor is its metal value: 0.3456 times the day's silver spot price. With 1.11 million made, worn examples trade for about their silver; collectors pay more for sharp, original coins and much more for uncirculated ones with full luster.
What would make yours worth more:
- Sharp detail with original luster
- A recognized variety for the date
- Professional grading for a key date
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 1919 Canadian 50 Cent rare?
- Not by mintage. 1.11 million were made, but it is silver, so even worn examples are worth their metal value rather than face value.
- How many 1919 Canadian 50 cent coins were made?
- 1,113,429 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1919 Canadian 50 Cent made of?
- Sterling silver (92.5% silver). It weighs 11.62 g and measures 29.72 mm.
- Is the 1919 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.
The 1919 50 cent coin in context
The 1919 is the last sterling silver 50 cent piece and the first with a mintage over a million. The Ottawa mint struck 1,113,429, the top of a wartime climb that began with 459,070 in 1916. Wartime spending and rising prices increased the need for coins of every size and the 50 cent piece shared in it. Silver prices were rising too. In 1920 the government cut the silver content of its coins from 92.5 to 80 percent. It was the fourth year of a steady wartime climb.
That change makes the 1919 a quiet milestone. It looks just like a 1920, but it holds a little more silver. For most finders the 1919 is the easiest George V sterling date, since so many were made. It turns up in old accumulations of silver, often well worn. Collectors use it as a type coin for the sterling George V series, while metal minded owners like knowing it sits at the higher fineness. The figure would not be topped again until the Second World War. Many of them stayed in use for decades.
How to recognize it
George V's crowned and robed portrait by Mackennal faces left with GEORGIVS V DEI GRA: REX ET IND: IMP:. The reverse has 50 CENTS and 1919 inside the maple wreath under a crown. Ottawa coins of this time carry no mint mark. It is 11.62 g of sterling silver, roughly 29.7 mm across, with about 0.35 troy ounces of pure silver. On worn coins the two 9s should match in shape; the date is the only outward sign that this is a sterling coin and not an 80 percent one. The coin measures about 29.7 mm across and its design matches the George V coins of 1912 onward.
1919 Canadian 50 Cent by the numbers
In mintage terms the 1919 Canadian 50 Cent ranks 84th lowest of 125 Canadian 50 cent dates and varieties from 1870 to 2022. The next scarcer is the 1994 Canadian 50 Cent (987,000); the next more common is the 1983 Canadian 50 Cent (1.18 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2002 P Golden Jubilee Canadian 50 Cent with 14.4 million, about 13 times as many. The scarcest is the 1932 Canadian 50 Cent with 19,213, 58 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1919 output was 1.5 times the 1918 figure and 1.9 times the 1920 figure.
Over the 1910s the Mint produced 4.65 million 50 cent coins across 9 dates and varieties; the 1919 Canadian 50 Cent accounts for 24% of that.
What to check on your 1919 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.
The 1919 is one of the most available George V 50 cent pieces, yet it is still worth more than face value for its silver alone. Coins with sharp crown jewels and clear leaf veins draw a collector premium. It makes a good type coin for the sterling George V years. Check for cleaning and rim damage. For anyone who wants just one sterling George V 50 cent piece, the 1919 is the obvious pick. Look for crisp detail on the crown and the leaves.
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
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 cents |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 1919 |
| Circulation mintage | 1,113,429 |
| Composition | Sterling silver (92.5% silver) |
| Weight | 11.62 g |
| Diameter | 29.72 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Reeded |
Frequently asked questions
Is the 1919 50 cent piece sterling silver?
Yes. It is the last Canadian 50 cent piece in sterling, 92.5 percent silver. From 1920 the fineness dropped to 80 percent, with no change in the design. The design stayed the same.
How many 1919 50 cent pieces were made?
The mintage is 1,113,429, the first time a Canadian 50 cent figure passed a million. That makes the 1919 one of the easier George V dates to find. It is also the last sterling date.
Mintage figures: 50-cent piece (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.