1876 H Canadian Penny
The 1876 H Canadian Penny is a one-cent coin struck for circulation with 4 million made. Value band: small premium. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1876
- Circulation mintage
- 4,000,000
- Value band
- Small premium
- Composition
- Bronze (95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% 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 an 1876 H Canadian Penny worth?
A large cent from 1876 is old enough that collectors want it in any condition. Worn, dark coins bring a small premium; coins with clear detail in the hair and leaves bring much more. Any with original red color are in a class of their own.
What would make yours worth more:
- Original red color rather than brown
- Sharp detail in the portrait and leaves
- 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 1876 H Canadian Penny rare?
- It is scarcer than most Canadian pennies. Collectors pay a small premium for good examples.
- How many 1876 H Canadian pennies were made?
- 4,000,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1876 H Canadian Penny made of?
- Bronze (95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc). It weighs 5.67 g and measures 25.4 mm.
- Is the 1876 H Canadian Penny still legal tender?
- Yes. The Royal Canadian Mint stopped distributing cents in 2013, but they remain legal tender. Cash payments are rounded to the nearest five cents, so most pennies now sit in jars or go to banks.
The 1876 penny in context
When the Dominion of Canada finally needed fresh cents, the old provincial stock had lasted almost two decades. The 1876-H is the first cent struck for the Dominion and it brought in a heavier coin: 5.67 g, one eightieth of a pound, on the same 25.4 mm diameter as before. Four million coins were ordered, enough to keep the country supplied for several years, since the next cents are dated 1881.
The order went to the Heaton mint in Birmingham instead of the Royal Mint in London. Heaton was a private firm that regularly struck coins for overseas governments. Heaton marked its work with a small H, which is why collectors call this coin the 1876-H. Every Canadian cent dated 1876 came from Birmingham, so you should expect to find the letter on yours. The design carried over the maple vine reverse that Canadians already knew from the 1859 coins, while the obverse moved to a more mature portrait of the queen, who had then been on the throne for almost forty years.
How to recognize it
Victoria appears older here than on the provincial cents, wearing a diadem, with VICTORIA DEI GRATIA REGINA CANADA around her portrait. The reverse keeps the familiar arrangement of ONE CENT and the date inside a beaded circle, surrounded by a vine of maple leaves. Look just below the date for the H. On a worn coin it can merge into the beads, so tilt the coin under a lamp to catch it. The bronze is 95.5% copper, 3% tin and 1.5% zinc and the coin is noticeably heavier in the hand than an 1859 of the same size. That weight difference is a quick way to separate the two issues.
1876 H Canadian Penny by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 1876 H Canadian Penny ranks 34th lowest of 151 Canadian cent dates and varieties from 1858 to 2012. The next scarcer is the 1909 Canadian Penny (3.97 million); the next more common is the 1882 H Canadian Penny (4 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1981 Round Canadian Penny with 1.21 billion, about 302 times as many. The scarcest is the 1858 Canadian Penny with 421,000, 9.5 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1876 output was 2.4 times fewer than 1859 and 2 times the 1881 figure.
What to check on your 1876 H Canadian Penny
- Confirm the variety: Heaton mint mark. Use a magnifier and compare with a reference picture before you assume you have the scarcer one.
- Check the color. Collectors describe copper cents as red, red-brown or brown; original red color is worth far more than toned or dull surfaces.
- Never clean it. Rubbing, polishing or dipping leaves fine scratches and an unnatural color that collectors spot at once.
- Look at the high points of the portrait and the lettering. Wear there sets the grade. The grade in turn drives the value of older cents.
Four million coins puts the 1876-H among the more available Victorian cents, level with the 1882-H and 1888 and far above the one million dates of the 1890s. It still appeals as the first Dominion cent, so even circulated coins draw a small premium, rising to a collector premium for sharp brown or red examples. Condition is everything here. Check the hair around the diadem and the veins in the maple leaves, where wear shows first. Avoid coins with heavy pitting or green spots, which are common on large cents that spent years in damp places.
Victoria large cents of the Dominion, 1876 to 1901
Confederation in 1867 created the Dominion of Canada, but it took nine more years before the new country needed cents of its own, because the province's 1859 stock was still being paid out. The first Dominion cents are dated 1876. They kept the 25.4 mm size and the familiar reverse of ONE CENT and the date in a beaded circle surrounded by a maple vine, but the coin got heavier: 5.67 g, one eightieth of a pound. Victoria now appears older, wearing a diadem, with the legend VICTORIA DEI GRATIA REGINA CANADA.
Canada still had no mint, so the cents came from England. The Royal Mint in London struck most years, while the private Heaton mint in Birmingham handled several orders and marked them with a small H below the date. The H years are 1876, 1881, 1882, 1890, 1898 and 1900 and 1900 was struck at both mints. Production was irregular. There are no cents dated 1877 to 1880, 1883, 1885 or 1889 and yearly mintages swing between one million and about four million.
Start by reading the date and checking for the H, because that pairing identifies the issue. The lowest mintages of the reign are the one million coin years: 1890-H, 1894, 1898-H and 1900 without an H. Those draw a collector premium even when worn. The four million dates such as 1876-H, 1882-H and 1888 are the easiest to find. These coins circulated for decades, so most are smooth. Sharp leaf veins, visible strands of hair and natural brown or red color are what separate a collector's coin from an ordinary one.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 1 cent |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 1876 |
| Circulation mintage | 4,000,000 |
| Composition | Bronze (95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc) |
| Weight | 5.67 g |
| Diameter | 25.4 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Plain |
Frequently asked questions
What does the H on an 1876 Canadian cent mean?
It is the mark of the Heaton mint in Birmingham, England, which struck all of Canada's 1876 cents in place of the Royal Mint in London. The small H sits below the date on the reverse.
Was 1876 the first Canadian cent?
It was the first cent of the Dominion of Canada, formed in 1867. The Province of Canada issued cents dated 1858 and 1859 earlier and New Brunswick and Nova Scotia had their own cents before they joined.
Mintage figures: Penny (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.