1924 Canadian Penny
The 1924 Canadian Penny is a one-cent coin struck for circulation with 1.59 million made. Value band: small premium. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1924
- Circulation mintage
- 1,593,195
- 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 1924 Canadian Penny worth?
At 1.59 million, the 1924 Canadian Penny has a smaller run than most Canadian pennies, so collectors pay a small premium for it, especially in uncirculated condition. Well circulated examples sit close to face value.
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 1924 Canadian Penny rare?
- It is scarcer than most Canadian pennies. Collectors pay a small premium for good examples.
- How many 1924 Canadian pennies were made?
- 1,593,195 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1924 Canadian Penny made of?
- Bronze (95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc). It weighs 3.24 g and measures 19.05 mm.
- Is the 1924 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 1924 penny in context
Production stayed low in 1924, with 1,593,195 cents struck. That is higher than 1922 and 1923 but still a small fraction of the totals for 1920 and 1921. Among the five slump years, only 1926 had a bigger run, so the 1924 is generally counted as a semi-key alongside the 1922, with the 1923 and 1925 above both of them in scarcity.
These low mintage years make up the heart of the George V small cent series for collectors and the 1924 is often the scarce date people find before they track down the true keys. It turns up a little more often in old accumulations than the 1923 or 1925, though not by much. Most examples are well worn. Any collector working through the 1920s will need one and it tends to be one of the last holes filled after the common dates of the late 1920s and early 1930s. If you find a 1924 in a box of old cents, set it apart from the rest, since it is a coin that draws real interest.
How to recognize it
Bertram Mackennal's crowned bust of George V is on the obverse, with GEORGIVS V DEI GRA: REX ET IND: IMP:. The reverse has two maple leaves with ONE CENT between them, CANADA above and 1924 below. The coin measures 19.05 mm and weighs 3.24 g. A worn 1921 or 1929 can look like a 1924 if the last digit is weak, so take your time with the date. Tilting the coin under a single bright light helps, because the raised edges of the 4 catch the light even when the digit is flat on top. A magnifier of five or ten power is plenty.
1924 Canadian Penny by the numbers
By the numbers, the 1924 Canadian Penny ranks 16th lowest of 151 Canadian cent dates and varieties from 1858 to 2012. The next scarcer is the 1897 Canadian Penny (1.5 million); the next more common is the 1881 H Canadian Penny (2 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1981 Round Canadian Penny with 1.21 billion, about 759 times as many. The scarcest is the 1858 Canadian Penny with 421,000, 3.8 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1924 output was 1.6 times the 1923 figure and 1.6 times the 1925 figure.
Over the 1920s the Mint produced 61.7 million cents across 11 dates and varieties; the 1924 Canadian Penny accounts for 2.6% of that.
What to check on your 1924 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.
At about 1.6 million, the 1924 draws a collector premium in all grades, though less than the 1923 or 1925. Coins with sharp leaf veins and crown detail are in demand and uncirculated pieces are scarce. As with the other scarce dates of the 1920s, altered digits are a risk, so check that the 4 sits cleanly with no scratches around it. An honest worn coin is often more appealing than a damaged higher grade one and a cleaned 1924 loses much of its interest. Store it in an inert holder so the surfaces stay as they are.
George V small cents, 1920 to 1936
In 1920 Canada replaced its big copper cent with a much smaller coin: 19.05 mm and 3.24 g, close in size to the cent used across the border. Some large cents dated 1920 were still struck before the change, so both sizes share the date. The small cent kept Mackennal's crowned George V and the corrected legend, but it got a new reverse with two maple leaves on a single stem, ONE CENT between them, CANADA above and the date below. The alloy stayed at 95.5% copper, 3% tin and 1.5% zinc.
The new coin was produced in huge numbers at first: more than fifteen million small cents in 1920 and over seven million in 1921. That left plenty in stock and output collapsed for the next five years. The mintages for 1922 to 1926 run from about one million to two million, with 1923 and 1925 the lowest. Those years are the keys of the whole small cent series. Output recovered in the late 1920s, dipped again to about 2.5 million in 1930 as the Depression set in, then jumped past 21 million in 1932.
George V died in January 1936. Cents dated 1936 still carry his portrait, because Edward VIII's coins were never issued in Canada. Cents dated 1936 with a small dot below the date were struck in early 1937 while dies for George VI were not ready, yet only a few are known today. For anything from 1922 to 1926, check the date with a magnifier, since key dates attract altered coins. Wear shows first on the crown and the leaf veins.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 1 cent |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 1924 |
| Circulation mintage | 1,593,195 |
| Composition | Bronze (95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc) |
| Weight | 3.24 g |
| Diameter | 19.05 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Plain |
Frequently asked questions
How many 1924 Canadian cents were made?
The records give 1,593,195 for circulation. That is low for the series and makes the 1924 a semi-key date, though it is a little more available than the 1922, 1923 and 1925.
Is a 1924 cent found in change worth keeping?
Yes. It draws a collector premium even when worn, since it comes from the low mintage years of the 1920s. Keep it apart from common dates and don't clean it, which reduces collector interest a lot.
Mintage figures: Penny (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.