1912 Canadian Penny
The 1912 Canadian Penny is a one-cent coin struck for circulation with 5.11 million made. Value band: small premium. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1912
- Circulation mintage
- 5,107,642
- 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 a 1912 Canadian Penny worth?
A large cent from 1912 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 1912 Canadian Penny rare?
- It is scarcer than most Canadian pennies. Collectors pay a small premium for good examples.
- How many 1912 Canadian pennies were made?
- 5,107,642 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1912 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 1912 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 1912 penny in context
After the outcry over the Godless coins of 1911, the government had the legend corrected and the 1912 cent is the first to carry the fixed version: GEORGIVS V DEI GRA: REX ET IND: IMP:. That wording stayed on the large cent until it ended in 1920 and carried over to the small cent. A total of 5,107,642 were struck, a little more than the year before.
In most respects the 1912 is a working coin of a confident, growing country. Canada's population was rising quickly and the mint in Ottawa, then only a few years old, was turning out several million cents a year to keep up with demand. The 1912 is not scarce at more than five million coins, but it plays an important part in the story of the George V coinage, since it shows how quickly the authorities responded to public feeling about religion on the coins. Many collectors buy one specifically to sit next to a 1911 and the pair makes a good conversation piece for anyone new to Canadian coins.
How to recognize it
Bertram Mackennal's crowned and robed bust of George V faces left. The legend now reads GEORGIVS V DEI GRA: REX ET IND: IMP: and DEI GRA: is the detail that sets it apart from the 1911. The reverse is the familiar large cent arrangement of ONE CENT and the date inside a beaded circle with a maple vine around the rim. The coin measures 25.4 mm and weighs 5.67 g. If the date is worn, look for the full legend to rule out a 1911, then compare the last digit with a known 1912 to be sure. The 2 has a flat base that tends to survive wear well.
1912 Canadian Penny by the numbers
By the numbers, the 1912 Canadian Penny ranks 42nd lowest of 151 Canadian cent dates and varieties from 1858 to 2012. The next scarcer is the 1915 Canadian Penny (4.93 million); the next more common is the 1910 Canadian Penny (5.15 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1981 Round Canadian Penny with 1.21 billion, about 237 times as many. The scarcest is the 1858 Canadian Penny with 421,000, 12 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1912 output was 1.1 times the 1911 figure and 1.1 times fewer than 1913.
Over the 1910s the Mint produced 76.2 million cents across 10 dates and varieties; the 1912 Canadian Penny accounts for 6.7% of that.
What to check on your 1912 Canadian Penny
- 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.
With more than five million struck, the 1912 is a common large cent. Worn coins carry a small premium and the interest grows with condition. Uncirculated coins with original red color are much scarcer than the mintage would suggest, since most cents went straight into daily use. Watch for verdigris and dark spots, which are common on bronze of this age. A clean, evenly toned brown coin is usually more appealing than a partly red one with spots. The 1912 is a good choice for a type coin of George V's corrected large cent.
George V large cents, 1911 to 1920
George V's crowned portrait by Bertram Mackennal first appeared on Canadian coins dated 1911 and it started with a controversy. The legend read GEORGIVS V REX ET IND: IMP:, leaving out DEI GRA:, the reference to ruling by the grace of God. Many Canadians objected to what the newspapers called Godless coins and from 1912 the legend was corrected to GEORGIVS V DEI GRA: REX ET IND: IMP:. The 1911 cent is the only large cent with the short legend, which makes it easy to check.
The coin kept its old dimensions of 25.4 mm and 5.67 g, with ONE CENT and the date inside the maple vine. The First World War changed the numbers. Mintages that had been three to six million a year before the war jumped to more than eleven million in each year from 1916 to 1919, with 1918 the highest at nearly thirteen million. Rising copper costs and the sheer bulk of the coin made a smaller cent attractive and in 1920 Canada switched to a 19.05 mm cent close in size to the American one.
Cents dated 1920 come in both sizes and the large ones are the last of their kind. For everything in this period, start with two checks: the legend on 1911 coins and the size on 1920 coins. Most dates are common in worn condition, especially the wartime years. Look for natural brown color and clear detail in the crown and the maple leaves. Coins that have spent decades in jars often carry dark spots or green verdigris and those lower collector interest more than ordinary wear does.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 1 cent |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 1912 |
| Circulation mintage | 5,107,642 |
| 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 changed on the 1912 Canadian cent?
The legend added DEI GRA:, by the grace of God, which had been left off in 1911. The rest of the design stayed the same, so the 1912 is the first George V cent with the full wording.
How many 1912 cents were made?
The records give 5,107,642 for circulation, slightly more than in 1911. That makes it a common date, though uncirculated coins with original red color are much harder to find than worn ones, since so few were saved.
Mintage figures: Penny (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.