1942 Nickel Canadian Nickel
The 1942 Nickel Canadian Nickel is a Canadian nickel struck for circulation with 6.85 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1942
- Circulation mintage
- 6,847,544
- Value band
- Face value
- Composition
- Nickel (99.9%)
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 1942 Nickel Canadian Nickel worth?
With 6.85 million made, the 1942 Nickel Canadian Nickel 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:
- 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 1942 Nickel Canadian Nickel rare?
- No. 6.85 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 1942 Nickel Canadian nickels were made?
- 6,847,544 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1942 Nickel Canadian Nickel made of?
- Nickel (99.9%). It weighs 4.54 g and measures 21.2 mm.
- Is the 1942 Nickel Canadian Nickel still legal tender?
- Yes. Canadian 5-cent coins are legal tender.
The 1942 nickel in context
The 1942 round nickel is the last pure nickel five cents before the war took the metal away. In the early part of 1942 the mint was still striking the familiar round beaver coin in nickel and 6,847,544 were produced before the switch. Nickel was by then a critical war material, needed for armor plate, tough alloy steels and many kinds of machinery, so every ounce used in coins was an ounce not available for the war.
Later in 1942 the mint changed to a brass alloy called tombac and the shape changed to 12 sides. That leaves two very different coins with the same date. The round pure nickel 1942 is the more common of the pair. Pure nickel would not return to the five cents until 1946. That makes the 1942 nickel a neat marker of the moment when the war effort reached right into Canadians' pockets. Collecting both 1942 coins side by side is the easiest way to show that change. Wartime demand for coins was high, since more people were working and spending.
How to recognize it
George VI by T. H. Paget is on the obverse, bare headed and facing left. The reverse is Kruger Gray's beaver on a rock, with CANADA above, 5 CENTS below and the date. The coin is round, 21.2 mm and 4.54 g of pure nickel, just like every nickel since 1922. Compare it with the 12-sided tombac 1942: the round edge and gray color of the nickel coin make the difference obvious at a glance. A magnet also helps, since only the pure nickel coin is attracted to it. The design matches the 1937 to 1941 coins. Wear shows first on the beaver's back.
1942 Nickel Canadian Nickel by the numbers
In mintage terms the 1942 Nickel Canadian Nickel ranks 72nd lowest of 161 Canadian nickel dates and varieties from 1858 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 1918 Canadian Nickel (6.05 million); the next more common is the 1946 Nickel Canadian Nickel (6.95 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2008 Canadian Nickel with 278.5 million, about 41 times as many. The scarcest is the 1884 Canadian Nickel with 200,000, 34 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1942 output was 1.3 times fewer than 1941 and 3.6 times fewer than 1943. Other 1942 five cent coins: 1942 Tombac Canadian Nickel (3.4 million).
Over the 1940s the Mint produced 127.6 million five cent coins across 12 dates and varieties; the 1942 Nickel Canadian Nickel accounts for 5.4% of that.
What to check on your 1942 Nickel Canadian Nickel
- Try a magnet. Nickel (99.9%) is magnetic, so a genuine 1942 coin sticks; a silver one would not.
- Never clean it. Rubbing or polishing leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- 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.
Make sure you know which 1942 you have before you look up anything else. The round pure nickel coin is common in circulated grades. Collectors look for sharp detail in the beaver's fur and tail and in the ripples of the water. Surface spots and corrosion are common on nickels of this age, so a clean coin is the one to keep. If you are building a set of wartime coins, this round 1942 is the starting point, followed by the tombac beaver and the Victory nickels. Look for even gray toning.
Wartime tombac and steel nickels (1942 to 1945)
The Second World War took the nickel out of the nickel. The metal was vital for armor plate and munitions, so partway through 1942 the mint stopped using it. The first replacement was tombac, a brass of about 88 percent copper and 12 percent zinc. Because a brass coin could be confused with a worn cent, the new piece was made 12-sided. The first tombac coins of 1942 kept the beaver. In 1943 a new reverse by Thomas Shingles appeared: a flaming torch over a large V for Victory.
Around the rim of the Victory reverse runs a line of dots and dashes. It is Morse code for the slogan We Win When We Work Willingly. Copper and zinc were also needed for the war effort, so in 1944 and 1945 the Victory design was struck on steel plated with nickel and chrome. The 12-sided shape stayed. These coins look silvery like normal nickels but are clearly magnetic and tend to rust where the plating is broken.
The 1942 round pure nickel coin and the 1942 12-sided tombac coin are both common in worn condition, but they are worth separating since they are different metals. Tombac darkens to a brown that can look like copper; a coin that still shows bright brassy color is the one to want. The steel coins are hard to find without spots or pitting, so a clean, fully plated example deserves attention. Check that the Morse code on the Victory coins is sharp.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 5 cents |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 1942 |
| Circulation mintage | 6,847,544 |
| Composition | Nickel (99.9%) |
| Weight | 4.54 g |
| Diameter | 21.2 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Plain |
Other 1942 Canadian nickels
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 1942 Tombac Canadian Nickel | 3,396,234 | Face value |
Frequently asked questions
Why are there two kinds of 1942 nickel?
Early in 1942 the mint struck round coins in pure nickel. When the metal was needed for the war, it switched to a 12-sided coin in tombac, a type of brass. Both carry the 1942 date and the beaver.
What is the quickest way to tell the 1942 nickel from the 1942 tombac?
Look at the shape and color. The pure nickel coin is round and gray. The tombac coin has 12 sides and a brassy or brown tint. Only the nickel coin will cling to a magnet.
Mintage figures: Nickel (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.