1931 Canadian Dime

Quick answers

Is the 1931 Canadian Dime rare?

Not by mintage. 2.07 million were made, but it is silver, so even worn examples are worth their metal value rather than face value.

How many 1931 Canadian dimes were made?

2,067,421 were struck for circulation.

What is the 1931 Canadian Dime made of?

80% silver, 20% copper. It weighs 2.33 g and measures 18.03 mm.

Is the 1931 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.

How to recognize it

The 1931 Canadian Dime is round, 18.03 mm across and 80% silver, 20% copper.

1931 Canadian Dime by the numbers

In mintage terms the 1931 Canadian Dime ranks 45th lowest of 157 Canadian dime dates and varieties from 1858 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 1871 H Canadian Dime (1.87 million); the next more common is the 1928 Canadian Dime (2.46 million).

For scale, the most common is the 2008 Canadian Dime with 467.5 million, about 226 times as many. The scarcest is the 1884 Canadian Dime with 150,000, 14 times fewer than this one.

Compared with the dates around it, the 1931 output was 1.1 times the 1930 figure and 1.8 times the 1932 figure.

Over the 1930s the Mint produced 21.2 million dimes across 10 dates and varieties; the 1931 Canadian Dime accounts for 9.8% of that.

What to check on your 1931 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.

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