Canadian Dimes 1858 to 2024: Silver, the Bluenose and Rare Dates

Is your dime silver? Check the date

Canada cut the silver in its dimes in steps before replacing it with nickel.

• 1858 to 1919: sterling silver, 92.5%
• 1920 to 1966: 80% silver
• 1967: 80% silver at first, 50% later in the year
• 1968: 50% silver at first, then pure nickel
• 1969 to 2000: pure nickel
• 2001 onward: plated steel, marked with a small P from 2001 to 2006

Every Canadian dime, 1858 to 2024

Dated 1967 and earlier (and the 50% silver 1968): silver.

Victorian and Edwardian keys

Early dimes were struck in small batches, many at the Heaton mint in Birmingham with an H on the reverse. The lowest is the 1884 at 150,000, followed by the 1883 H at 300,000, the 1887 at 350,000 and the 1885 at 400,000. The 1889 is the true key, though. Its recorded mintage of 600,000 is thought to include dimes that were dated 1888. Only an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 dated 1889 are thought to exist.

Edward VII's dimes ran from 1902 to 1910. The 1903 without H, at 500,000, is the lowest, with the 1902 at 720,000 and the 1908 at 776,666 close behind. The 1909 comes with two styles of leaves on the reverse: the older Victorian style and the new Edwardian one.

George V: leaves, gaps and Depression lows

George V's 1913 dimes have small leaves or large leaves. The large leaves variety is the scarcer of the two. The 1915 had only 688,057 made. After 1921 no dimes were struck until 1928, so there is a gap in any date run. The Depression then cut output sharply: 672,368 in 1933, 409,067 in 1934 and 384,056 in 1935, the three lowest dimes of the reign.

The Bluenose and the 1936 dot

In 1937 the dime got the reverse it still has: Emanuel Hahn's fishing schooner under full sail, the Bluenose, launched at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia in 1921 and famous for winning races. Before the new dies were ready, the Mint struck some dimes early in 1937 using 1936 dies with a small dot added below the date. Only a handful of these 1936 dot dimes are known and they are among the greatest Canadian rarities.

Two more George VI changeover dates are worth knowing. The 1947 maple leaf (9,638,793) has a tiny leaf after the date and was struck in 1948 while dies without the IND IMP title were prepared. The 1948 itself had just 422,741 made, a key date for the reign. Elizabeth II's 1953 dimes come with and without a shoulder fold on the portrait.

1968: silver, nickel and Philadelphia

1968 is the year to check most carefully. The first dimes were 50% silver (70,460,000). The rest were pure nickel and demand was so high that the US Mint in Philadelphia struck 85,170,000 alongside the 87,412,930 made in Ottawa. A magnet separates silver from nickel; only nickel sticks. To tell Ottawa from Philadelphia, look at the grooves on the edge with a magnifier. Ottawa dimes have V-shaped grooves and Philadelphia ones have flat-bottomed, square grooves.

Modern dimes

The 1967 centennial dime shows a mackerel. After that the Bluenose returned and mintages ran high, with lean years in 1970 (5,249,296), 1991 (50,397,000) and 1997 (43,126,000). Plated steel arrived in 2001, when a special dime marked the International Year of Volunteers. 2003 has crowned and uncrowned portraits of the Queen. In 2021 a commemorative dime dated 1921 and 2021 marked the Bluenose centenary. Coins of Charles III began in 2023.

Frequently asked questions