1885 Canadian Dime
The 1885 Canadian Dime is a Canadian dime struck for circulation with 400,000 made. Value band: small premium. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1885
- Circulation mintage
- 400,000
- Value band
- Small premium
- 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 1885 Canadian Dime worth?
At 400,000, the 1885 Canadian Dime has a smaller run than most Canadian dimes, so collectors pay a small premium for it, especially in uncirculated condition. Well circulated examples sit close to face value.
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 1885 Canadian Dime rare?
- It is scarcer than most Canadian dimes. Collectors pay a small premium for good examples.
- How many 1885 Canadian dimes were made?
- 400,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1885 Canadian Dime made of?
- Sterling silver (92.5% silver). It weighs 2.33 g and measures 18.03 mm.
- Is the 1885 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 1885 dime in context
The 1885 dime had a published mintage of 400,000, all from the Royal Mint in London. That was more than the 150,000 of 1884 but still low and less than half the 800,000 struck the following year. The mid 1880s were a period of small orders, as Canada's economy moved slowly and existing coins kept circulating.
Collectors regard 1885 as one of the scarcer Victorian dimes, especially in better condition. It shares the problem of most early Canadian silver: the coins were small, thin and used for a long time, so many ended up with faint dates and smooth portraits. Survivors with good detail are harder to find than the mintage alone might suggest. In a run of Victorian dates, 1884, 1885 and 1887 form a group of low mintage London coins that often take collectors the longest to find in nice condition. The year was also a turbulent one in Canada, with the North-West Rebellion in the spring and the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway driven in November, though neither event touched the coinage itself.
How to recognize it
The design matches the other Dominion dimes of the reign. Victoria wears a diadem and faces left inside VICTORIA DEI GRATIA REGINA CANADA. The reverse carries 10 CENTS and 1885 inside a wreath of maple leaves topped by a crown. There is no H. The coin is sterling silver at about 2.33 g and roughly 18 mm, with a reeded edge, giving a little under 0.07 troy oz of silver. On a worn coin the 5 can resemble a 3 or a 6, so a magnifier is a good idea. The best preserved coins still show the strands of hair and the lines of the diadem.
1885 Canadian Dime by the numbers
By the numbers, the 1885 Canadian Dime ranks 5th lowest of 157 Canadian dime dates and varieties from 1858 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 1935 Canadian Dime (384,056); the next more common is the 1934 Canadian Dime (409,067).
For scale, the most common is the 2008 Canadian Dime with 467.5 million, about 1169 times as many. The scarcest is the 1884 Canadian Dime with 150,000, 2.7 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1885 output was 2.7 times the 1884 figure and 2 times fewer than 1886.
Over the 1880s the Mint produced 6.55 million dimes across 10 dates and varieties; the 1885 Canadian Dime accounts for 6.1% of that.
What to check on your 1885 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 1885 carries a collector premium in all grades and a strong one in better condition. Read the date carefully, check the edges for damage and look for signs of cleaning. Holed coins are common among early Canadian silver and are worth much less to collectors. If you have one with clear detail on both sides, it is worth having it looked at by a specialist. A natural gray or toned surface is usually preferred over a bright, polished look and a coin with a sharp date always draws more interest than one you have to squint at.
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 | 1885 |
| Circulation mintage | 400,000 |
| Composition | Sterling silver (92.5% silver) |
| Weight | 2.33 g |
| Diameter | 18.03 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Reeded |
Frequently asked questions
How many 1885 dimes were made?
The published mintage is 400,000, all struck at the Royal Mint in London. That is low for the series and only a small share survive in good condition after decades in circulation.
Does an 1885 dime have a mint mark?
No. It was struck in London and London coins carry no mint mark. Only the Heaton coins from Birmingham have the small H on the reverse. The 1885 is a plain London coin.
Mintage figures: Dime (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.