2021 Dual Dated Canadian Dime
The 2021 Dual Dated Canadian Dime is a Canadian dime struck for circulation with 170.8 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2021
- Circulation mintage
- 170,775,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Composition
- Nickel-plated steel
Original illustration of the coin's shape and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Face value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 2021 Dual Dated Canadian Dime worth?
With 170.8 million made, the 2021 Dual Dated Canadian Dime is common and worth face value in circulated condition. Only uncirculated coins with full luster, recognized varieties and genuine errors interest collectors.
What would make yours worth more:
- Full uncirculated luster
- A recognized variety or genuine error
- Coins from a specimen or proof set
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 2021 Dual Dated Canadian Dime rare?
- No. 170.8 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2021 Dual Dated Canadian dimes were made?
- 170,775,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 2021 Dual Dated Canadian Dime made of?
- Nickel-plated steel. It weighs 1.75 g and measures 18.03 mm.
- Is the 2021 Dual Dated Canadian Dime still legal tender?
- Yes. Canadian dimes are legal tender.
The 2021 dime in context
In 2021 the Royal Canadian Mint marked the hundredth anniversary of the Bluenose with a special dime. The schooner was launched in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, in March 1921 and the commemorative coin carries both dates, 1921 and 2021. Every classic schooner dime struck that year carries the dual date and the published mintage for 2021 is 170,775,000.
The Bluenose earned her fame as a working fishing schooner that also won races against the best vessels from the United States. She became a symbol of Nova Scotia and of Canada's seafaring past and when Emanuel Hahn designed the dime's schooner for George VI's coins in 1937, the ship was widely recognized as the Bluenose. She was lost on a reef off Haiti in 1946, but her image stayed on the dime. The centennial coin honors both the ship and the long run of the design itself. A replica, Bluenose II, was built in 1963 and still sails from Lunenburg. For collectors the dual date is the detail to look for.
How to recognize it
Susanna Blunt's uncrowned queen faces right on the obverse, with ELIZABETH II D·G·REGINA and the mint's logo. The reverse shows the familiar schooner with CANADA and 10 CENTS, but instead of a single date it carries both 1921 and 2021. Like other plated dimes it weighs 1.75 g, measures 18 mm and is attracted to a magnet. The added 1921 is the only difference from a 2020 or 2022 dime, so check that area carefully. Winnipeg, the mint's circulation coin facility, struck this coin. The same portrait appears on Bérubé's angled Bluenose dime of 2021. On worn coins the smaller digits of the extra date can blur, so use a magnifier.
2021 Dual Dated Canadian Dime by the numbers
In mintage terms the 2021 Dual Dated Canadian Dime ranks 136th lowest of 157 Canadian dime dates and varieties from 1858 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 1978 Canadian Dime (170.4 million); the next more common is the 1992 Canadian Dime (174.5 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2008 Canadian Dime with 467.5 million, about 2.7 times as many. The scarcest is the 1884 Canadian Dime with 150,000, 1139 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 2021 output was 2.5 times the 2020 figure and 1.7 times the 2022 figure. Other 2021 dimes: 2021 Bluenose Centennial Canadian Dime (15 million).
Over the 2020s the Mint produced 478.4 million dimes across 6 dates and varieties; the 2021 Dual Dated Canadian Dime accounts for 36% of that.
What to check on your 2021 Dual Dated Canadian Dime
- Try a magnet. Nickel-plated steel is magnetic, so a genuine 2021 coin sticks; a silver one would not.
- Confirm the variety: 1921-2021 dual date. Use a magnifier and compare with a reference picture before you assume you have the scarcer one.
- Never clean it. Rubbing or polishing leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- Look for full luster and no scratches. Modern dimes only interest collectors in uncirculated condition or with a recognized variety.
The 2021 dual dated dime is a face value coin in circulated condition, with a small premium for uncirculated examples. It is a popular souvenir of the Bluenose centennial and a natural companion to Bérubé's commemorative 2021 dime. Look for bright, unworn coins from rolls or sets. It is also a nice coin to keep with a 1937 dime, the first year of the schooner design. Comparing the two shows how little the schooner has changed in more than eighty years.
Susanna Blunt plated steel dimes (2003 to 2022)
In 2003 the mint introduced a new portrait of Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt, showing the queen without a crown. Both portraits were used that year, so the 2003 dime exists crowned and uncrowned. The P for plated stayed under the portrait until partway through 2006, when the mint's own logo took its place. The dime itself is multi-ply plated steel at 1.75 g and 18 mm, with a reeded edge and Hahn's Bluenose is still on the reverse.
With the cent no longer distributed from 2013 and cash use slowly falling, dime mintages wobbled from year to year. The record is 467,495,000 in 2008, while 2013 dropped to 104,775,000. Two circulating commemoratives broke the run of schooners. In 2017 Canada 150 dimes, 20,000,000 of them, carried a winning design from a public contest and the dates 1867 and 2017. In 2021 the mint marked a century since the Bluenose was launched with a dime carrying the dates 1921 and 2021.
Every date in this period is common and almost all are face value coins. The 2017 Canada 150 dime is the one most people set aside, being far scarcer than the regular 2017. Check 2021 dimes for the angled Bluenose commemorative and 2003 coins for the crowned or uncrowned queen. Unworn coins from mint rolls or sets are the ones to keep if you are building a collection.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 10 cents |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 2021 |
| Circulation mintage | 170,775,000 |
| Composition | Nickel-plated steel |
| Weight | 1.75 g |
| Diameter | 18.03 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Reeded |
Other 2021 Canadian dimes
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 Bluenose Centennial Canadian Dime | 15,000,000 | Face value |
Frequently asked questions
Why do some 2021 dimes show 1921 as well?
It is the Bluenose centennial dime. The schooner was launched in 1921 and the Royal Canadian Mint marked a hundred years with a circulating dime carrying both dates. It circulated widely.
Is the dual dated 2021 dime rare?
No. Every classic schooner dime of 2021 carries both dates and 170,775,000 were struck. It is worth face value in circulated condition but makes a nice souvenir of the anniversary.
Mintage figures: Dime (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.