1882 H Canadian Penny
The 1882 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
- 1882
- 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 1882 H Canadian Penny worth?
A large cent from 1882 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 1882 H Canadian Penny rare?
- It is scarcer than most Canadian pennies. Collectors pay a small premium for good examples.
- How many 1882 H Canadian pennies were made?
- 4,000,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1882 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 1882 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 1882 penny in context
After the big order of 1876, Canada went four years without new cents. The next batch came in 1881, followed by a larger one dated 1882, both struck at the Heaton mint in Birmingham, which marked each coin with a small H. The 1882-H run of four million coins was among the largest of the Victorian era, matched by 1876-H and 1888 and only topped by the 4.1 million cents of 1901.
Large cents like this did the daily work of shops and markets for decades, which is why so many surviving 1882-H coins are worn smooth. Plenty stayed in pocket change well into the twentieth century, mixed in with Edward VII and George V cents of the same size. That long working life makes a sharp 1882-H much harder to find than its mintage suggests, even though worn ones are plentiful. Canada still had no mint of its own at this point, so every coin in this order crossed the Atlantic from Birmingham and the small H on the reverse records that journey.
How to recognize it
On the obverse of the 1882-H cent, Victoria wears a diadem inside the legend VICTORIA DEI GRATIA REGINA CANADA. On the reverse, ONE CENT and the date 1882 sit inside a beaded circle with a vine of maple leaves around the rim and the H mint mark appears below the date. Measure it if you're unsure: 25.4 mm across, 5.67 g in weight. The 1881-H and 1882-H look identical apart from the final digit, so make sure the 2 is clear. A worn 2 can resemble a 1 at a glance, but the curved top and flat base of the 2 usually survive even on smooth coins.
1882 H Canadian Penny by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 1882 H Canadian Penny ranks 35th lowest of 151 Canadian cent dates and varieties from 1858 to 2012. The next scarcer is the 1876 H Canadian Penny (4 million); the next more common is the 1888 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 1882 output was 2 times the 1881 figure and 1.6 times the 1884 figure.
Over the 1880s the Mint produced 15.5 million cents across 6 dates and varieties; the 1882 H Canadian Penny accounts for 26% of that.
What to check on your 1882 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 is a big number for a Victorian cent, so worn 1882-H examples are among the easiest dates to find. They trade for a small premium in circulated grades. Strong demand starts with coins that still show crisp leaf veins and hair detail and uncirculated pieces with some original red color draw a collector premium. If you are building a Victorian date set, this is a sensible coin to buy in a higher grade than you would choose for the scarce one million dates, since a nice one is within reach. Watch for cleaned coins with an unnatural pink or yellow tone.
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 | 1882 |
| 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
Is the 1882 H Canadian penny rare?
No. Four million were struck, making it one of the most available Victorian cents. Worn examples bring a small premium for their age, while sharp coins with original color are what collectors compete for.
Where is the mint mark on an 1882-H cent?
The H is on the reverse, just below the date and inside the beaded circle. It stands for the Heaton mint in Birmingham, which struck this whole order for Canada.
Mintage figures: Penny (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.