1967 50% Silver Canadian Dime
The 1967 50% Silver Canadian Dime is a Canadian dime struck for circulation with 63 million made. Value band: metal value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1967
- Circulation mintage
- 62,998,215
- Value band
- Metal value
- Composition
- 50% silver, 50% 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 1967 50% Silver Canadian Dime worth?
The 1967 50% Silver Canadian Dime is a silver coin with 0.0375 troy ounces of pure silver, so its floor is its metal value: 0.0375 times the day's silver spot price. With 63 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 1967 50% Silver Canadian Dime rare?
- Not by mintage. 63 million were made, but it is silver, so even worn examples are worth their metal value rather than face value.
- How many 1967 50% Silver Canadian dimes were made?
- 62,998,215 were struck for circulation (a combined figure for the 50% Silver and 80% Silver varieties).
- What is the 1967 50% Silver Canadian Dime made of?
- 50% silver, 50% copper. It weighs 2.33 g and measures 18.03 mm.
- Is the 1967 50% Silver 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 1967 dime in context
Partway through 1967 the Royal Canadian Mint lowered the silver content of the dime from 80 to 50 percent. Silver was rising in price, the mint was struggling to keep coins in circulation and the cost of the metal was getting close to the face value of the coins. Halving the silver bought some time. The centennial mackerel design stayed the same and the published mintage of 62,998,215 covers both versions together.
The 50 percent standard lasted only until 1968, when the dime switched to pure nickel. That makes the 50 percent silver dime a short lived type, struck only in parts of two years. The 1967 version is the only one with the mackerel. For collectors it is a historical curiosity more than a rarity: the coins are common, but they mark the moment when Canada first began to move away from silver in its everyday coinage. Most were hoarded with other silver dimes in the years that followed and many were eventually melted, so fewer remain in circulation than the mintage suggests.
How to recognize it
On the obverse, Machin's tiara portrait faces right inside ELIZABETH II D·G·REGINA. The reverse shows Colville's mackerel with CANADA, 10 CENTS and the dates 1867 and 1967. This version is 50 percent silver, weighing the same 2.33 g at 18 mm with a reeded edge, so it holds a little under 0.04 troy oz of silver, about five eighths as much as the 80 percent coin. Visually there is no difference. Neither version is attracted to a magnet, which separates both from the later nickel dimes. You will find no mint mark. Colville's fish is unique to the 1967 dime.
1967 50% Silver Canadian Dime by the numbers
The published 62,998,215 for 1967 covers both the 50% Silver and 80% Silver varieties together, so neither can be ranked on its own. As a date, 1967 sits 103rd lowest among Canadian dime dates by output.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1967 output was 1.8 times the 1966 figure and 1.1 times fewer than 1968. Other 1967 dimes: 1967 80% Silver Canadian Dime.
Over the 1960s the Mint produced 659 million dimes across 12 dates and varieties; the 1967 50% Silver Canadian Dime accounts for 9.6% of that.
What to check on your 1967 50% Silver Canadian Dime
- Check the date first: silver Canadian dimes carry dates from 1858 to 1968; this one has 0.0375 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 1967 50 percent silver dime is common and in circulated condition it trades for its silver value. Unworn examples bring a small premium. If you have a pile of centennial dimes, you probably have a mix of both silver standards without knowing it. Testing is only worthwhile if you want to collect both versions. Otherwise, enjoy the mackerel and keep them as silver coins. Keep the coins in a dry place, since silver tones over time. Toning is natural and does no harm, but avoid cleaning.
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 | 1967 |
| Circulation mintage | 62,998,215 (with the 80% Silver variety) |
| Composition | 50% silver, 50% copper |
| Weight | 2.33 g |
| Diameter | 18.03 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Reeded |
Other 1967 Canadian dimes
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 1967 80% Silver Canadian Dime | 62,998,215 | Metal value |
Frequently asked questions
Why did Canada reduce the silver in the 1967 dime?
Silver prices were rising and coins were being hoarded for their metal. Cutting the silver to 50 percent lowered the cost of each dime and made it less tempting to melt.
Is the 50 percent silver 1967 dime worth more than the 80 percent one?
Not as a rule. Both are common and are usually valued for their silver content, so the 80 percent coin has slightly more metal value. Neither is scarce. Neither is rare.
Mintage figures: Dime (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.