1961 Canadian 50 Cent Coin

Quick answers

Is the 1961 Canadian 50 Cent rare?

Not by mintage. 3.58 million were made, but it is silver, so even worn examples are worth their metal value rather than face value.

How many 1961 Canadian 50 cent coins were made?

3,584,417 were struck for circulation.

What is the 1961 Canadian 50 Cent made of?

80% silver, 20% copper. It weighs 11.66 g and measures 29.72 mm.

Is the 1961 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 1961 Canadian 50 Cent is round, 29.72 mm across and 80% silver, 20% copper.

1961 Canadian 50 Cent by the numbers

In mintage terms the 1961 Canadian 50 Cent ranks 115th lowest of 125 Canadian 50 cent dates and varieties from 1870 to 2022. The next scarcer is the 1960 Canadian 50 Cent (3.49 million); the next more common is the 1975 Canadian 50 Cent (3.71 million).

For scale, the most common is the 2002 P Golden Jubilee Canadian 50 Cent with 14.4 million, about 4 times as many. The scarcest is the 1932 Canadian 50 Cent with 19,213, 187 times fewer than this one.

Compared with the dates around it, the 1961 output was about the same as 1960 and 1.5 times fewer than 1962.

Over the 1960s the Mint produced 65.9 million 50 cent coins across 10 dates and varieties; the 1961 Canadian 50 Cent accounts for 5.4% of that.

What to check on your 1961 Canadian 50 Cent

• Check the date first: silver Canadian 50 cent coins carry dates from 1870 to 1967; this one has 0.3 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.

Last silver 50 cents (1959 to 1967)

In 1959 the reverse was redrawn. The large, simple coat of arms of 1937 to 1958 gave way to a smaller design showing the complete arms, with more heraldic detail packed into less space. That style, in one form or another, has been on the 50 cent piece ever since. Gillick's portrait stayed until 1964. In 1965 Arnold Machin's portrait replaced it, showing the queen in a tiara with the shorter legend ELIZABETH II D·G·REGINA.

These were boom years. Mintages climbed from 3,095,535 in 1959 to 12,629,974 in 1965, the largest of the silver era. The coin stayed at 80 percent silver, 11.66 g, with about 0.30 troy ounces of pure silver. The 1966 was the last with the regular arms design in silver. For the centennial in 1967, the painter Alex Colville designed a one year reverse for every circulating coin and the 50 cent piece got a howling wolf with the dates 1867 and 1967. Unlike the dime and quarter, the 1967 50 cent piece stayed at 80 percent silver all year.

Nothing in this group is rare and most dates trade near their silver value, with a small premium for bright uncirculated coins. That still makes every one worth more than face value. Sort them by date and by reverse: complete arms for 1959 to 1966, the wolf for 1967. Silver coins of this era were pulled from circulation quickly after 1968, so they now turn up mostly in old jars, rolls and inherited collections. A magnet sorts them from later coins, since silver is not attracted to it.

Mintage chart

Specifications