1956 Canadian 50 Cent Coin

Quick answers

Is the 1956 Canadian 50 Cent rare?

Not by mintage. 1.38 million were made, but it is silver, so even worn examples are worth their metal value rather than face value.

How many 1956 Canadian 50 cent coins were made?

1,379,499 were struck for circulation.

What is the 1956 Canadian 50 Cent made of?

80% silver, 20% copper. It weighs 11.66 g and measures 29.72 mm.

Is the 1956 Canadian 50 Cent still legal tender?

Yes. Canadian 50 cent coins are legal tender, but a silver one is worth more for its metal than its face value.

How to recognize it

The 1956 Canadian 50 Cent is round, 29.72 mm across and 80% silver, 20% copper.

1956 Canadian 50 Cent by the numbers

Measured by how many were made, the 1956 Canadian 50 Cent ranks 86th lowest of 125 Canadian 50 cent dates and varieties from 1870 to 2022. The next scarcer is the 1983 Canadian 50 Cent (1.18 million); the next more common is the 1984 Canadian 50 Cent (1.5 million).

For scale, the most common is the 2002 P Golden Jubilee Canadian 50 Cent with 14.4 million, about 10 times as many. The scarcest is the 1932 Canadian 50 Cent with 19,213, 72 times fewer than this one.

Compared with the dates around it, the 1956 output was 1.8 times the 1955 figure and 1.6 times fewer than 1957.

Over the 1950s the Mint produced 19.9 million 50 cent coins across 10 dates and varieties; the 1956 Canadian 50 Cent accounts for 6.9% of that.

What to check on your 1956 Canadian 50 Cent

• Check the date first: silver Canadian 50 cent coins carry dates from 1870 to 1967; this one has 0.3 troy oz. Silver coins are not magnetic and ring clearly when dropped on a hard surface.
• Never clean it. Rubbing or polishing leaves fine scratches that collectors spot at once and that cut the value of silver dates sharply.
• Look at the high points of the portrait and the design. Wear there sets the grade. The grade in turn drives the value of older 50 cent coins.

Early Elizabeth II silver 50 cents (1953 to 1958)

Elizabeth II first appears on Canadian 50 cent pieces dated 1953, the year of her coronation. Mary Gillick's portrait shows the young queen facing right with a laurel wreath in her hair and no crown, inside the legend ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA. The reverse kept the large coat of arms used under George VI. The coin was still 80 percent silver, 11.66 g, with about 0.30 troy ounces of pure silver.

The first portrait dies struck poorly, so the mint revised the design during 1953 and added a fold line to the gown at the shoulder. Collectors split the year into no shoulder fold and shoulder fold coins, with one mintage of 1,630,429 covering both. The rest of the period is a story of a growing economy. After a dip to 506,305 in 1954 and 753,511 in 1955, the figures climbed past a million in 1956 and reached 2,957,266 in 1958, the last year of the large arms reverse.

The 1954 and 1955 are the dates to look for here, with the 1953 varieties drawing specialist interest. Everything in this group is silver, so even common dates are worth more than face value for their metal. Silver coins vanished from change after the switch to nickel in 1968, but they still surface in jars and inherited collections. A quick test helps: silver does not stick to a magnet, while the later nickel and plated steel 50 cent pieces do. On these coins wear shows first on the queen's hair and the laurel leaves.

Mintage chart

Specifications