1965 Canadian Dime
The 1965 Canadian Dime is a Canadian dime struck for circulation with 57 million made. Value band: metal value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1965
- Circulation mintage
- 56,965,392
- 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 1965 Canadian Dime worth?
The 1965 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 57 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 1965 Canadian Dime rare?
- Not by mintage. 57 million were made, but it is silver, so even worn examples are worth their metal value rather than face value.
- How many 1965 Canadian dimes were made?
- 56,965,392 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1965 Canadian Dime made of?
- 80% silver, 20% copper. It weighs 2.33 g and measures 18.03 mm.
- Is the 1965 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 1965 dime in context
In 1965 the queen's portrait on Canada's coins changed for the first time in her reign. Arnold Machin's new design shows Elizabeth II as a mature woman wearing a tiara, replacing Mary Gillick's youthful laureate portrait. The legend was shortened to ELIZABETH II D·G·REGINA. The Royal Canadian Mint struck 56,965,392 dimes dated 1965, the highest dime mintage up to that time.
Those huge numbers were a sign of trouble. Silver prices were rising around the world and people had started to hoard silver coins, so the mint had to strike more and more dimes simply to keep enough in circulation. The United States removed silver from its dimes in 1965 and Canada would follow a few years later. For now, though, the Canadian dime was still 80 percent silver. The 1965 is therefore both the first Machin dime and one of the last full years of the traditional silver standard. It is common, but it marks the beginning of the most eventful four years in the coin's history. Within three years the silver would be gone.
How to recognize it
Arnold Machin's portrait shows the queen wearing a tiara, facing right, with ELIZABETH II D·G·REGINA around it. Compared with the Gillick portrait, she looks older and the head is set differently, so the change is easy to spot. The reverse kept Hahn's schooner with CANADA, 10 CENTS and 1965. The coin is 80 percent silver at about 2.33 g and 18 mm with a reeded edge, so it holds roughly 0.06 troy oz of silver. It is not attracted to a magnet. The tiara and hair are the first areas of the portrait to wear. Like all Ottawa dimes of the time, it has no mint mark. It is the first Machin portrait dime.
1965 Canadian Dime by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 1965 Canadian Dime ranks 101st lowest of 157 Canadian dime dates and varieties from 1858 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 1969 Canadian Dime (55.8 million); the next more common is the 1972 Canadian Dime (60.2 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2008 Canadian Dime with 467.5 million, about 8.2 times as many. The scarcest is the 1884 Canadian Dime with 150,000, 380 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1965 output was 1.2 times the 1964 figure and 1.6 times the 1966 figure.
Over the 1960s the Mint produced 659 million dimes across 12 dates and varieties; the 1965 Canadian Dime accounts for 8.6% of that.
What to check on your 1965 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 1965 is a common date, valued mainly for its silver content in circulated condition. Uncirculated coins from mint sets carry a small premium. Its interest is as the first Machin portrait dime and a member of the last generation of 80 percent silver coins. If you find any 1965 dime in change, set it aside for its silver. Do not clean it, as that only reduces its appeal. In bulk, older silver dimes like this are usually traded by weight of silver rather than as individual coins.
Centennial and the end of silver (1965 to 1968)
These four years changed the dime more than any period since 1858. In 1965 Arnold Machin's new portrait of Elizabeth II wearing a tiara replaced Gillick's, with the shorter legend ELIZABETH II D·G·REGINA. In 1967 Canada marked a hundred years since Confederation with special reverses by the painter Alex Colville and the dime showed a mackerel in place of the Bluenose. The centennial coins carry the dates 1867 and 1967. The schooner came back in 1968.
Meanwhile the price of silver kept rising and a silver dime was close to being worth more as metal than as money. Partway through 1967 the mint cut the silver content from 80 to 50 percent without changing the weight of 2.33 g. Early 1968 dimes were also 50 percent silver, but later that year the dime became pure nickel, lighter at 2.07 g. Demand was so heavy that the United States Mint in Philadelphia struck 85,170,000 of the 1968 nickel dimes, alongside 87,412,930 from Ottawa.
So 1967 and 1968 each come in two metals that look identical. The magnet is your friend: a pure nickel dime is attracted to a magnet while silver ones are not. Telling 80 percent from 50 percent silver, or Ottawa from Philadelphia nickel, takes closer work with weight, specific gravity or the edge reeding. Silver dimes from these years were pulled from circulation in huge numbers for their metal.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 10 cents |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 1965 |
| Circulation mintage | 56,965,392 |
| Composition | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| Weight | 2.33 g |
| Diameter | 18.03 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Reeded |
Frequently asked questions
When did the queen's portrait change on Canadian dimes?
In 1965. Arnold Machin's portrait of the queen wearing a tiara replaced Mary Gillick's laureate portrait, which had been used since 1953. Machin's design stayed on the dime until 1989.
Is the 1965 dime real silver?
Yes. It is 80 percent silver, weighing about 2.33 g, with roughly 0.06 troy oz of pure silver. A 1965 dime will not stick to a magnet. It is silver like all earlier dimes.
Mintage figures: Dime (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.