1965 Canadian 50 Cent Coin
The 1965 Canadian 50 Cent is a Canadian 50 cent coin struck for circulation with 12.6 million made. Value band: metal value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1965
- Circulation mintage
- 12,629,974
- Value band
- Metal value
- Composition
- 80% silver, 20% copper
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 1965 Canadian 50 Cent worth?
The 1965 Canadian 50 Cent is a silver coin with 0.3 troy ounces of pure silver, so its floor is its metal value: 0.3 times the day's silver spot price. With 12.6 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 1965 Canadian 50 Cent rare?
- Not by mintage. 12.6 million were made, but it is silver, so even worn examples are worth their metal value rather than face value.
- How many 1965 Canadian 50 cent coins were made?
- 12,629,974 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1965 Canadian 50 Cent made of?
- 80% silver, 20% copper. It weighs 11.66 g and measures 29.72 mm.
- Is the 1965 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 1965 50 cent coin in context
The 1965 brought a new portrait and the biggest silver 50 cent mintage ever. Arnold Machin's portrait of the queen, wearing a tiara, replaced Mary Gillick's laureate head on all Canadian coins. The mint struck 12,629,974 50 cent pieces, the largest figure for the denomination until the 2002 Golden Jubilee coin. It was more than a third larger than the 9,377,676 of 1964, the final Gillick year. The rise reflected record demand for coins of every size.
Demand for coins was soaring in the mid 1960s and silver prices were starting to rise. That combination would soon push silver out of Canadian pocket change altogether. For now, the 1965 is a common date and the easiest silver 50 cent piece to find. It is also the first year of the Machin portrait, which stayed on Canadian 50 cent pieces until 1989. Many were saved, so uncirculated coins turn up regularly. Its huge mintage makes it a good coin for anyone who just wants an example of Canadian silver. Collectors who want one example of each portrait in silver usually choose a 1965 for the Machin type.
How to recognize it
Machin's portrait shows the queen facing right, wearing a tiara, with the shorter legend ELIZABETH II D·G·REGINA. The reverse shows the complete coat of arms with CANADA, 50 CENTS and 1965. The coin is 80 percent silver, 11.66 g and about 29.7 mm, with about 0.30 troy ounces of pure silver. Compare the obverse with a 1964 and the change of portrait is obvious. Wear shows on the tiara and the hair above the ear. The tiara is the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara, a wedding present the queen often wore. The reverse arms are the complete design introduced in 1959.
1965 Canadian 50 Cent by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 1965 Canadian 50 Cent ranks 124th lowest of 125 Canadian 50 cent dates and varieties from 1870 to 2022. The next scarcer is the 1964 Canadian 50 Cent (9.38 million); the next more common is the 2002 P Golden Jubilee Canadian 50 Cent (14.4 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2002 P Golden Jubilee Canadian 50 Cent with 14.4 million, about 1.1 times as many. The scarcest is the 1932 Canadian 50 Cent with 19,213, 657 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1965 output was 1.3 times the 1964 figure and 1.6 times the 1966 figure.
Over the 1960s the Mint produced 65.9 million 50 cent coins across 10 dates and varieties; the 1965 Canadian 50 Cent accounts for 19% of that.
What to check on your 1965 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.
The 1965 trades near its silver value, with a small premium for bright uncirculated coins. It is the most available silver 50 cent date, which makes it a sensible type coin for the Machin portrait in silver. Look for sharp tiara detail and few marks. A magnet will not pick it up. Many were set aside from rolls when silver began to rise, so uncirculated pieces are easy to find. Look for clean fields and sharp detail in the arms. Check for spots.
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
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 50 cents |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 1965 |
| Circulation mintage | 12,629,974 |
| Composition | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| Weight | 11.66 g |
| Diameter | 29.72 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Reeded |
Frequently asked questions
Is the 1965 50 cent piece silver?
Yes. It is 80 percent silver, 11.66 g, with about 0.30 troy ounces of pure silver. Canadian 50 cent pieces stayed silver until the switch to nickel in 1968. Silver is not attracted to a magnet.
What changed on the 1965 50 cent piece?
The portrait. Arnold Machin's image of the queen wearing a tiara replaced Mary Gillick's laureate head, with the legend shortened to ELIZABETH II D·G·REGINA. The new portrait appeared on all Canadian coins dated 1965.
Mintage figures: 50-cent piece (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.