1921 Canadian Dime
The 1921 Canadian Dime is a Canadian dime struck for circulation with 2.47 million made. Value band: metal value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1921
- Circulation mintage
- 2,469,562
- 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 1921 Canadian Dime worth?
The 1921 Canadian Dime is a silver coin with 0.0599 troy ounces of pure silver, so its floor is its metal value: 0.0599 times the day's silver spot price. With 2.47 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 1921 Canadian Dime rare?
- Not by mintage. 2.47 million were made, but it is silver, so even worn examples are worth their metal value rather than face value.
- How many 1921 Canadian dimes were made?
- 2,469,562 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1921 Canadian Dime made of?
- 80% silver, 20% copper. It weighs 2.33 g and measures 18.03 mm.
- Is the 1921 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 1921 dime in context
The 1921 is the last George V dime before a long pause. The Ottawa mint struck 2,469,562 dimes that year, less than half the 6,305,345 of 1920 and then struck no dimes at all from 1922 to 1927. A sharp postwar recession had cut the demand for change and the large wartime and early postwar mintages left plenty of coins in circulation. The country simply did not need more dimes for several years.
That gap gives the 1921 an unusual place in the series. It closes the busy war era and stands alone at the edge of a six year silence. When production resumed with the 1928 dime, the mintage was almost the same as 1921. For collectors the 1921 is a fairly available date and not a key, but its timing makes it interesting. It also shares its year with the launch of the Bluenose, the Nova Scotia schooner launched in 1921 that would later appear on the dime. Nobody could have guessed that connection at the time. A century later the mint marked it with a dual dated dime.
How to recognize it
The coin shows Mackennal's crowned and robed bust of George V facing left, with GEORGIVS V DEI GRA: REX ET IND: IMP:. On the reverse, 10 CENTS and 1921 sit inside a crowned maple wreath. The dime is 80 percent silver, weighing about 2.33 g at 18 mm with a reeded edge, so it holds roughly 0.06 troy oz of silver. The date is the main identifier. On worn coins the final 1 can be faint, so read the whole date carefully. A 1921 should look exactly like a 1920 or 1928 dime apart from the date. The crown and ear are the first areas to wear.
1921 Canadian Dime by the numbers
By the numbers, the 1921 Canadian Dime ranks 48th lowest of 157 Canadian dime dates and varieties from 1858 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 1936 Canadian Dime (2.46 million); the next more common is the 1937 Canadian Dime (2.5 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2008 Canadian Dime with 467.5 million, about 189 times as many. The scarcest is the 1884 Canadian Dime with 150,000, 16 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1921 output was 2.6 times fewer than 1920 and about the same as 1928.
Over the 1920s the Mint produced 14.5 million dimes across 4 dates and varieties; the 1921 Canadian Dime accounts for 17% of that.
What to check on your 1921 Canadian Dime
- Check the date first: silver Canadian dimes carry dates from 1858 to 1968; this one has 0.0599 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 1921 is a moderately common George V date. Worn examples trade close to their silver value with a small premium, while uncirculated coins carry a collector premium. It is a nice coin to keep for its place in the story, as the last dime before the gap. Look for detail in the crown and clean, readable lettering. Avoid cleaned or damaged coins if you have a choice. It also makes a natural companion to a 1928, the first dime after the gap, since the two have almost identical mintages.
George V 80% silver dimes (1920 to 1936)
Silver prices rose sharply during and after the First World War and in 1920 Canada lowered the fineness of its silver coins from 92.5 to 80 percent. The dime kept its size and weight of about 2.33 g, so the only change was less silver: roughly 0.06 troy oz per coin. Then the demand for change collapsed in the slump that followed the war. After 1921 no dimes were struck at all until 1928, a gap of six years.
The design did not change. Mackennal's crowned bust of George V faces left with GEORGIVS V DEI GRA: REX ET IND: IMP:, while the reverse has 10 CENTS and the date inside a crowned wreath of maple leaves. Production restarted in 1928 at a little under 2.5 million and then fell away as the Depression took hold, to 672,368 in 1933, 409,067 in 1934 and just 384,056 in 1935, the lowest dime mintage of the twentieth century. George V died in January 1936 but 1936 dimes still carry his portrait.
For collectors the period is about the Depression dates. The 1934 and 1935 are the ones to look for and are hard to find in better grades, with 1933 not far behind. Wear shows first on the crown and the king's ear, then on the leaf veins. A small raised dot below the wreath on a 1936 dime marks one of the rarest Canadian coins, struck in 1937 while new dies were prepared, though only a handful are known.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 10 cents |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 1921 |
| Circulation mintage | 2,469,562 |
| Composition | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| Weight | 2.33 g |
| Diameter | 18.03 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Reeded |
Frequently asked questions
Why were no Canadian dimes struck from 1922 to 1927?
A postwar recession reduced the demand for change and large mintages from 1919 to 1921 had left plenty of dimes in circulation. The Ottawa mint did not need to strike more until 1928.
Is the 1921 dime connected to the Bluenose?
Only by date. The Bluenose schooner was launched in 1921, but the dime did not show a schooner until 1937. In 2021 the mint issued a dual dated dime marking the ship's centennial.
Mintage figures: Dime (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.