1942 Tombac Canadian Nickel
The 1942 Tombac Canadian Nickel is a Canadian nickel struck for circulation with 3.4 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
- 3,396,234
- Value band
- Face value
- Composition
- Tombac (88% copper, 12% zinc)
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 Tombac Canadian Nickel worth?
With 3.4 million made, the 1942 Tombac 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 Tombac Canadian Nickel rare?
- No. 3.4 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 1942 Tombac Canadian nickels were made?
- 3,396,234 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1942 Tombac Canadian Nickel made of?
- Tombac (88% copper, 12% zinc). It weighs 4.54 g and measures 21.2 mm, with a 12-sided shape.
- Is the 1942 Tombac Canadian Nickel still legal tender?
- Yes. Canadian 5-cent coins are legal tender.
The 1942 nickel in context
Later in 1942 the mint stopped using nickel for the five cents. The metal was urgently needed for the war, so the coin was switched to tombac, a brass of roughly 88 percent copper and 12 percent zinc. That raised an obvious problem: a brass five cents could easily be mistaken for a cent, especially once it had darkened. The answer was to change the shape. The new coin had 12 sides, so it could be recognized by touch as well as by eye. It was the first time a Canadian five cents had been made of a copper alloy.
Only 3,396,234 tombac nickels are dated 1942, fewer than half the round pure nickel coins of the same year. They kept the beaver design, which makes the 1942 tombac a one year type: the only 12-sided brass beaver ever struck for circulation. The next year the mint introduced a new wartime design, the Victory torch, so the beaver went into hiding until 1946. That combination of short run, unusual metal and familiar design makes the 1942 tombac a favorite with collectors of wartime coins.
How to recognize it
The obverse shows George VI by Paget, facing left. The reverse is the Kruger Gray beaver on a rock with water around it, CANADA above and 5 CENTS below, adapted to fit a 12-sided flan. The coin is tombac, so when new it had a bright brassy color that soon dulls to a brown not far from a worn cent. The 12 sides are the defining feature, a shape that the nickel would keep until 1962. Because tombac is softer than nickel, the beaver's fur and the water lines wear down more quickly. A magnet will not pick it up, which is a quick check.
1942 Tombac Canadian Nickel by the numbers
In mintage terms the 1942 Tombac Canadian Nickel ranks 48th lowest of 161 Canadian nickel dates and varieties from 1858 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 1932 Canadian Nickel (3.2 million); the next more common is the 1930 Canadian Nickel (3.69 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2008 Canadian Nickel with 278.5 million, about 82 times as many. The scarcest is the 1884 Canadian Nickel with 200,000, 17 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1942 output was 2.6 times fewer than 1941 and 7.3 times fewer than 1943. Other 1942 five cent coins: 1942 Nickel Canadian Nickel (6.85 million).
Over the 1940s the Mint produced 127.6 million five cent coins across 12 dates and varieties; the 1942 Tombac Canadian Nickel accounts for 2.7% of that.
What to check on your 1942 Tombac Canadian Nickel
- Try a magnet. Tombac (88% copper, 12% zinc) is not magnetic, while the plated steel coins of later years are.
- Confirm the variety: tombac (brass) wartime alloy. 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 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.
Most survivors are brown and worn, so a 1942 tombac with bright brassy color and sharp detail stands out. Check that each of the 12 edges is crisp and free of dents. Tombac often shows dark streaks or spots; even toning is preferred. It is a one year type, so it draws steady interest even though it is not rare. Bright, brassy coins are much harder to find than brown ones, so they attract more attention. Never polish a tombac coin to bring back its color; collectors can always tell.
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 | 3,396,234 |
| Composition | Tombac (88% copper, 12% zinc) |
| Weight | 4.54 g |
| Diameter | 21.2 mm |
| Shape | 12-sided |
| Edge | Plain |
Other 1942 Canadian nickels
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 1942 Nickel Canadian Nickel | 6,847,544 | Face value |
Frequently asked questions
Why is the 1942 tombac nickel 12-sided?
Tombac is brass colored and could easily be confused with a cent. Giving the coin 12 sides let people tell it apart by sight and by feel. The shape proved so practical that it was kept for twenty years.
Is a brown 1942 nickel a mistake?
No. The 12-sided 1942 nickel was struck in tombac, a copper and zinc alloy that naturally darkens to brown. It is a normal wartime coin, not an error or a cent struck by accident.
Mintage figures: Nickel (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.