1875 H Canadian Dime
The 1875 H Canadian Dime is a Canadian dime struck for circulation with 1 million made. Value band: metal value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1875
- Circulation mintage
- 1,000,000
- 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 an 1875 H Canadian Dime worth?
The 1875 H Canadian Dime is a silver coin with 0.0693 troy ounces of pure silver, so its floor is its metal value: 0.0693 times the day's silver spot price. With 1 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 1875 H Canadian Dime rare?
- Not by mintage. 1 million were made, but it is silver, so even worn examples are worth their metal value rather than face value.
- How many 1875 H Canadian dimes were made?
- 1,000,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1875 H Canadian Dime made of?
- Sterling silver (92.5% silver). It weighs 2.33 g and measures 18.03 mm.
- Is the 1875 H Canadian Dime still legal tender?
- Yes. Canadian dimes are legal tender, but a silver one is worth more for its metal than its face value.
The 1875 dime in context
After the large orders of 1870 to 1872, Canada needed fewer new dimes and the mint records show it. There are no dimes dated 1873, while 1874-H came to 600,000. The 1875-H, also struck by the Heaton mint in Birmingham, had a published mintage of 1,000,000. Then came another long pause. No dimes are dated 1876, 1877, 1878 or 1879, so the 1875-H was the last new ten cent coin Canadians saw for five years.
Those gaps reflect the economy of the time. The mid 1870s brought a long trade depression, which slowed the need for new coin, while the silver already in circulation kept doing its job. For collectors, the 1875-H sits in a quiet stretch of the series. It has neither the fame of 1889 nor the tiny mintage of 1884, but it is one of only a handful of Victorian dimes from the 1870s and it carries the H that marks Heaton's work. Its 1,000,000 coins made it a fair sized order by the standards of the day.
How to recognize it
Victoria wears a diadem and faces left on the obverse, inside the legend VICTORIA DEI GRATIA REGINA CANADA. The reverse has 10 CENTS and 1875 in a crowned wreath of maple leaves, with the small H that identifies the Heaton mint. There is no London 1875 dime, so every genuine 1875 dime should show the H if that part of the coin is not worn away. The metal is sterling silver at about 2.33 g and 18 mm, giving a little under 0.07 troy oz of pure silver. On worn coins the 5 in the date can be weak, so check it carefully against a 3 or an 8.
1875 H Canadian Dime by the numbers
By the numbers, the 1875 H Canadian Dime ranks 27th lowest of 157 Canadian dime dates and varieties from 1858 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 1872 H Canadian Dime (1 million); the next more common is the 1882 H Canadian Dime (1 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2008 Canadian Dime with 467.5 million, about 467 times as many. The scarcest is the 1884 Canadian Dime with 150,000, 6.7 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1875 output was 1.7 times the 1874 figure and 1.5 times fewer than 1880.
Over the 1870s the Mint produced 6.87 million dimes across 6 dates and varieties; the 1875 H Canadian Dime accounts for 15% of that.
What to check on your 1875 H Canadian Dime
- Check the date first: silver Canadian dimes carry dates from 1858 to 1968; this one has 0.0693 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 dimes.
The 1875-H carries a collector premium in any grade, as all Victorian dimes do. A fully readable date is the first thing to check, because the low relief of these small coins wears quickly. The best examples keep the lines of the diadem and the veins in the maple leaves. If you are building a run of dates, this is the only dime you need for 1875, which keeps things simple. Look out for a natural surface, since cleaned coins are common and less appealing. A sharp H on the reverse is a bonus.
Queen Victoria silver dimes (1858 to 1901)
Canada's ten cent piece began in 1858, when the Province of Canada, today's Ontario and Quebec, switched its accounts to dollars and cents and ordered its first decimal coins from the Royal Mint in London. That single 1858 issue had to last until after Confederation. Through the 1860s Canadians paid with American silver that circulated at a discount, so the new Dominion exported much of it and ordered silver of its own, starting with 1870. Canada still had no mint. London struck most years and the private Heaton mint in Birmingham filled several orders, adding a small H. Orders followed demand, so there are no dimes dated 1873, 1876 to 1879, 1895 or 1897.
Every coin of the reign is sterling silver, about 2.33 g and 18 mm with a reeded edge, holding a little under 0.07 troy oz of pure silver. The 1858 shows a young Victoria with a laurel wreath in her hair, while from 1870 she wears a diadem; both read VICTORIA DEI GRATIA REGINA CANADA. The reverse has 10 CENTS and the date inside a wreath of maple leaves with a crown on top. Mintages ran from 150,000 in 1884 to 1,870,000 for 1871-H. The source also lists small die varieties in 1870, 1886, 1891, 1892, 1893 and 1899.
The famous key is 1889, where only an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 of the reported 600,000 are thought to carry that date. The 1884, 1883-H, 1887, 1885 and 1890-H are also hard to find in decent condition. Read the date with a magnifier and look for the H, because 1871 exists both with and without it. Most survivors are heavily worn, often holed or bent, so any detail left in the hair and leaves lifts a coin above the crowd. Be wary of altered dates on the key years.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 10 cents |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 1875 |
| Circulation mintage | 1,000,000 |
| Composition | Sterling silver (92.5% silver) |
| Weight | 2.33 g |
| Diameter | 18.03 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Reeded |
Frequently asked questions
Are there 1875 dimes without an H?
No 1875 dime was struck in London, so the Heaton coin with its H is the only version. If the H seems to be missing, look again with a magnifier, since wear can make it very faint.
Why are there no Canadian dimes from 1876 to 1879?
Canada ordered coins only when it needed them. During the trade depression of the later 1870s the existing supply was enough, so no new dimes were struck until the 1880-H.
Mintage figures: Dime (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.