2006 P Canadian Penny
The 2006 P Canadian Penny is a one-cent coin struck for circulation with 137.7 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2006
- Circulation mintage
- 137,733,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Composition
- Copper-plated steel (94% steel, 1.5% nickel, 4.5% copper plating)
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 2006 P Canadian Penny worth?
With 137.7 million made, the 2006 P Canadian Penny is common. A circulated one is worth face value. The cent is still legal tender even though the Mint stopped issuing it in 2013. Only coins with full original red color, a recognized variety or a genuine error interest collectors.
What would make yours worth more:
- Full original red color
- A recognized variety or a genuine mint error
- Coins from a specimen or proof set
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 2006 P Canadian Penny rare?
- No. 137.7 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2006 P Canadian pennies were made?
- 137,733,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 2006 P Canadian Penny made of?
- Copper-plated steel (94% steel, 1.5% nickel, 4.5% copper plating). It weighs 2.35 g and measures 19.05 mm.
- Is the 2006 P 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 2006 penny in context
The 2006-P is the last cent with the P mark. The Royal Canadian Mint had used the P since 2002 to identify its plated steel coins, but in 2006 it switched to its own logo, so the P appears for the final time on cents of this year. A total of 137,733,000 P cents were struck, alongside the 886,275,000 logo and no logo coins that share a single published total.
That gives 2006 three forms of the cent and makes the P coin the end of a short series. The P cents ran from 2002 to 2006, with mintages ranging from about 30 million in 2005 to about 591 million for the uncrowned 2003 coins. The 2006-P falls in the middle. It carries Susanna Blunt's uncrowned portrait and Kruger Gray's maple twig, like every cent from the end of 2003 onward. For collectors building a set of P cents, the 2006 is the natural last coin. For everyone else, it is simply a steel cent that sticks to a magnet, though the P gives it a little extra story.
How to recognize it
The 2006-P cent shows Susanna Blunt's uncrowned queen facing right, with ELIZABETH II D·G·REGINA and a small P below. The reverse of the 2006-P cent is Kruger Gray's maple twig with CANADA, 1 CENT and the date. The 2006-P cent is round, weighs 2.35 g and is copper-plated steel, so a magnet picks it up. Look for the P under a magnifier, since it is small and can wear faint. If your 2006 cent has a Mint logo or no mark instead, it is one of the other two versions of the year. Since all three share the same portrait and reverse, the small mark is the only visible difference, so take your time with the magnifier.
2006 P Canadian Penny by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 2006 P Canadian Penny ranks 96th lowest of 151 Canadian cent dates and varieties from 1858 to 2012. The next scarcer is the 2004 P Canadian Penny (134.9 million); the next more common is the 1961 Canadian Penny (139.6 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1981 Round Canadian Penny with 1.21 billion, about 8.8 times as many. The scarcest is the 1858 Canadian Penny with 421,000, 327 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 2006 output was 4.5 times the 2005 figure and 6.8 times fewer than 2007. Other 2006 cents: 2006 No Logo Canadian Penny (886.3 million) and 2006 Mint Logo Canadian Penny (886.3 million).
Over the 2000s the Mint produced 8.29 billion cents across 19 dates and varieties; the 2006 P Canadian Penny accounts for 1.7% of that.
What to check on your 2006 P Canadian Penny
- Try a magnet: a genuine 2006 P Canadian Penny is plated steel and sticks to it.
- Confirm the variety: P mark (plated steel). 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; bright original 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.
With over 137 million struck, the 2006-P is common and worn coins are face value. A small premium is the most a red uncirculated 2006-P cent usually draws. Its interest is as the last P cent and part of a set of the three 2006 forms. Steel cents can rust where the plating is scratched, so look for an even copper surface. Keep coins dry and separate from other metals. A coin with full red color and a clear P is the best choice for a set and a short run of P cents from 2002 to 2006 makes a tidy little collection.
Plated steel and the last cents, 2004 to 2012
By 2004 the cent was being made in two versions: copper-plated zinc at 2.25 g and copper-plated steel at 2.35 g. Steel coins carried a small P through 2006. That year the Royal Canadian Mint began placing its own logo on coins, so 2006 cents come with a P, with the logo or with no mark at all. From 2007 the useful way to sort them is with a magnet. Steel cents stick and zinc cents don't and the published mintages for several years split along those lines.
The design stayed the same throughout: Susanna Blunt's uncrowned portrait of the queen on one side and Kruger Gray's maple twig on the other. What changed was the economics. By then the cent had come to cost more than its face value to make. The federal government announced in 2012 that production would stop and the mint struck its final cent that May in Winnipeg. Banks stopped receiving new supplies after February 4, 2013, when the mint ceased distributing cents. Cash prices are now rounded to the nearest five cents, while electronic payments still settle to the cent.
Cents remain legal tender and huge numbers sit in jars across the country, so almost all of these coins are face value. The points worth checking are the magnet result and the date. Non-magnetic zinc coins from 2007 had a far smaller run than the steel ones and the split for 2009 is lopsided too. The last year, 2012, has two short runs, which gives the final cent a little extra appeal. Keep any bright uncirculated pieces separate, since those are what collectors want.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 1 cent |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 2006 |
| Circulation mintage | 137,733,000 |
| Composition | Copper-plated steel (94% steel, 1.5% nickel, 4.5% copper plating) |
| Weight | 2.35 g |
| Diameter | 19.05 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Plain |
Other 2006 Canadian pennies
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 No Logo Canadian Penny | 886,275,000 | Face value |
| 2006 Mint Logo Canadian Penny | 886,275,000 | Face value |
Frequently asked questions
When did the P mark stop appearing on Canadian cents?
The 2006-P is the last cent with the P mark. In 2006 the Royal Canadian Mint switched to its own logo and from 2007 steel and zinc cents were told apart by the magnet test.
How many 2006 P cents were made?
The records give 137,733,000 for circulation. That is far fewer than the 886,275,000 logo and no logo coins of the same year, but still a large number, so worn coins are face value.
Mintage figures: Penny (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.