1909 Canadian Nickel
The 1909 Canadian Nickel is a Canadian nickel struck for circulation with 1.98 million made. Value band: metal value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1909
- Circulation mintage
- 1,983,725
- Value band
- Metal value
- Composition
- Sterling silver (92.5% silver)
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 1909 Canadian Nickel worth?
The 1909 Canadian Nickel is a silver coin with 0.0345 troy ounces of pure silver, so its floor is its metal value: 0.0345 times the day's silver spot price. With 1.98 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 1909 Canadian Nickel rare?
- Not by mintage. 1.98 million were made, but it is silver, so even worn examples are worth their metal value rather than face value.
- How many 1909 Canadian nickels were made?
- 1,983,725 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1909 Canadian Nickel made of?
- Sterling silver (92.5% silver). It weighs 1.16 g and measures 15.5 mm.
- Is the 1909 Canadian Nickel still legal tender?
- Yes. Canadian 5-cent coins are legal tender, but a silver one is worth more for its metal than its face value.
The 1909 nickel in context
In 1909 the Ottawa mint struck 1,983,725 five cents, up from the lean 1908 but still well short of the 1907 peak. It was the second full year for the new Canadian mint and the engravers were already adjusting the dies they had inherited from London. Canada's economy was booming in these years, with settlers pouring into the Prairies, so the call for small change was steady.
The most visible change came on the reverse. The maple leaves in the wreath were reworked and two styles of leaf appear on coins dated 1909: one with rounded tips and one with pointed tips. The same pair carried on into 1910. The variety gives collectors a reason to look closely at an otherwise ordinary Edwardian date and the 1909 is also one of the lower mintages of the reign. Both types were used with the same date, which tells you that dies of each kind were in service at the mint that year. Collectors who specialize in Edward VII often want one of each, so the variety turns a single date into a pair.
How to recognize it
The obverse keeps de Saulles' crowned bust of Edward VII and the legend EDWARDUS VII DEI GRATIA REX IMPERATOR. On the reverse, 5 CENTS and the date sit inside the wreath of maple leaves with a crown at the top. Look at the leaves themselves. On the round leaves type the lobes are blunt and soft looking. On the pointed leaves type each leaf has sharp, spiky tips that look more like a real maple leaf. Like other Edwardian five cents, it weighs about 1.16 g in sterling silver. The rest of the reverse, with 5 CENTS and the date at the center, did not change at all.
1909 Canadian Nickel by the numbers
By the numbers, the 1909 Canadian Nickel ranks 29th lowest of 161 Canadian nickel dates and varieties from 1858 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 1948 Canadian Nickel (1.81 million); the next more common is the 1872 H Canadian Nickel (2 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2008 Canadian Nickel with 278.5 million, about 140 times as many. The scarcest is the 1884 Canadian Nickel with 200,000, 9.9 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1909 output was 1.6 times the 1908 figure and 2.9 times fewer than 1910.
Over the 1900s the Mint produced 28.3 million five cent coins across 12 dates and varieties; the 1909 Canadian Nickel accounts for 7.0% of that.
What to check on your 1909 Canadian Nickel
- Check the date first: silver Canadian nickels carry dates from 1858 to 1921; this one has 0.0345 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 five cent coins.
Both leaf types are included in the 1,983,725 mintage. A magnifier and a picture of each type side by side make the call easy on a coin that is not too worn. Wear softens leaf tips, so a heavily circulated coin may be hard to classify. A crisp, original 1909 with clear leaves is the one to keep. Hold the coin under a lamp at a low angle and the outline of each leaf stands out. Damage, holes or cleaning reduce its appeal sharply.
Edward VII silver five cents (1902 to 1910)
Victoria died in January 1901, but coins dated 1901 still carry her portrait. The new king's effigy reached the five cents in 1902. George William de Saulles modeled Edward VII crowned and robed, with the legend EDWARDUS VII DEI GRATIA REX IMPERATOR. The coin itself stayed the same tiny sterling silver piece of about 1.16 g, with 5 CENTS and the date inside a maple wreath under a crown. Demand was strong in a growing country and yearly mintages climbed from around two million toward five million by 1907.
The big change of the reign was where the coins came from. London and Heaton's Birmingham works both struck five cents dated 1902 and 1903, with the Heaton coins marked H. Then in January 1908 the Ottawa branch of the Royal Mint opened and Canada finally made its own coins. From 1908 every five cent piece was struck in Ottawa. In 1909 the maple leaves on the reverse were reworked, which is why collectors separate round leaf and pointed leaf coins for 1909 and 1910.
The lowest mintage of the reign is the 1903 London striking at 1,000,000, followed by 1908 at just over 1.2 million. The H coins of 1902 and 1903 are easy to tell apart from London strikes if the reverse is clear, so check the reverse carefully for the small H. Wear hits the king's crown and the leaf tips first. Many survivors are scratched, holed or cleaned, so an honest, evenly toned coin with clear leaves is worth more attention than a bright one.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 5 cents |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 1909 |
| Circulation mintage | 1,983,725 |
| Composition | Sterling silver (92.5% silver) |
| Weight | 1.16 g |
| Diameter | 15.5 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Reeded |
Frequently asked questions
Why do some 1909 coins have pointed leaves?
The wreath on the reverse exists in two versions, one with blunt rounded leaf tips and one with sharp pointed tips. Dies of both kinds were used in 1909, so both types carry that date.
Do the 1910 coins have the same varieties?
The 1910 five cents also come in round leaves and pointed leaves types, both counted in its 5,850,325 mintage. The 1910 was the last year to carry Edward VII's portrait.
Mintage figures: Nickel (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.