1871 H Canadian Dime
The 1871 H Canadian Dime is a Canadian dime struck for circulation with 1.87 million made. Value band: metal value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1871
- Circulation mintage
- 1,870,000
- Value band
- Metal value
- Composition
- Sterling silver (92.5% silver)
Original illustration of the coin's shape and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is an 1871 H Canadian Dime worth?
The 1871 H Canadian Dime is a silver coin with 0.0693 troy ounces of pure silver, so its floor is its metal value: 0.0693 times the day's silver spot price. With 1.87 million made, worn examples trade for about their silver; collectors pay more for sharp, original coins and much more for uncirculated ones with full luster.
What would make yours worth more:
- Sharp detail with original luster
- 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 1871 H Canadian Dime rare?
- Not by mintage. 1.87 million were made, but it is silver, so even worn examples are worth their metal value rather than face value.
- How many 1871 H Canadian dimes were made?
- 1,870,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1871 H Canadian Dime made of?
- Sterling silver (92.5% silver). It weighs 2.33 g and measures 18.03 mm.
- Is the 1871 H Canadian Dime still legal tender?
- Yes. Canadian dimes are legal tender, but a silver one is worth more for its metal than its face value.
The 1871 dime in context
The 1871-H is the first Canadian dime made outside London. Part of that year's order went to the Heaton mint in Birmingham, a private firm that struck coins for several countries and added a small H to show where they were made. Heaton's share for 1871 was 1,870,000 dimes, more than double the 800,000 struck in London that year and the highest dime mintage of the Victorian era.
This makes 1871 one of the dates where the mint mark matters. Two coins with the same design and date can come from two different mints and collectors treat them as separate dates. The Heaton mint would go on to strike Canadian dimes in several more years of Victoria's reign and again in 1902 and 1903. Every one of them is identified by the same small letter. The 1871-H arrived during the early push to replace American silver in Canadian pockets, which explains the large order. It is also the first Canadian dime to carry the Heaton H, a mark that would appear on eleven dates in all.
How to recognize it
The design is the standard Dominion type. The queen faces left in her diadem, ringed by VICTORIA DEI GRATIA REGINA CANADA. On the reverse, 10 CENTS and 1871 sit inside a wreath of maple leaves with a crown at the top. The difference from the London coin is the H, a tiny letter on the reverse that needs good light and a magnifier on worn coins. The coin is sterling silver, about 2.33 g and 18 mm with a reeded edge. It contains a little under 0.07 troy oz of pure silver. The Heaton strikes can look slightly different in finish from London ones, but the H is the reliable test.
1871 H Canadian Dime by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 1871 H Canadian Dime ranks 44th lowest of 157 Canadian dime dates and varieties from 1858 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 1930 Canadian Dime (1.83 million); the next more common is the 1931 Canadian Dime (2.07 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2008 Canadian Dime with 467.5 million, about 250 times as many. The scarcest is the 1884 Canadian Dime with 150,000, 12 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1871 output was 1.2 times the 1870 figure and 1.9 times the 1872 figure. Other 1871 dimes: 1871 Canadian Dime (800,000).
Over the 1870s the Mint produced 6.87 million dimes across 6 dates and varieties; the 1871 H Canadian Dime accounts for 27% of that.
What to check on your 1871 H Canadian Dime
- Check the date first: silver Canadian dimes carry dates from 1858 to 1968; this one has 0.0693 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 dimes.
Because it has the highest Victorian mintage, the 1871-H is one of the more available early dimes, which makes it a good choice if you want a single Heaton coin in a type set. It still carries a collector premium, since all Victorian silver is old and most is worn. Look for clear hair detail and a sharp H. If your 1871 has no H, it is the London coin, of which fewer were struck. It also makes a neat comparison with the 1870 London coin, which has no letter at all.
Queen Victoria silver dimes (1858 to 1901)
Canada's ten cent piece began in 1858, when the Province of Canada, today's Ontario and Quebec, switched its accounts to dollars and cents and ordered its first decimal coins from the Royal Mint in London. That single 1858 issue had to last until after Confederation. Through the 1860s Canadians paid with American silver that circulated at a discount, so the new Dominion exported much of it and ordered silver of its own, starting with 1870. Canada still had no mint. London struck most years and the private Heaton mint in Birmingham filled several orders, adding a small H. Orders followed demand, so there are no dimes dated 1873, 1876 to 1879, 1895 or 1897.
Every coin of the reign is sterling silver, about 2.33 g and 18 mm with a reeded edge, holding a little under 0.07 troy oz of pure silver. The 1858 shows a young Victoria with a laurel wreath in her hair, while from 1870 she wears a diadem; both read VICTORIA DEI GRATIA REGINA CANADA. The reverse has 10 CENTS and the date inside a wreath of maple leaves with a crown on top. Mintages ran from 150,000 in 1884 to 1,870,000 for 1871-H. The source also lists small die varieties in 1870, 1886, 1891, 1892, 1893 and 1899.
The famous key is 1889, where only an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 of the reported 600,000 are thought to carry that date. The 1884, 1883-H, 1887, 1885 and 1890-H are also hard to find in decent condition. Read the date with a magnifier and look for the H, because 1871 exists both with and without it. Most survivors are heavily worn, often holed or bent, so any detail left in the hair and leaves lifts a coin above the crowd. Be wary of altered dates on the key years.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 10 cents |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 1871 |
| Circulation mintage | 1,870,000 |
| Composition | Sterling silver (92.5% silver) |
| Weight | 2.33 g |
| Diameter | 18.03 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Reeded |
Other 1871 Canadian dimes
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 1871 Canadian Dime | 800,000 | Small premium |
Frequently asked questions
What does the H on an 1871 dime mean?
It stands for the Heaton mint in Birmingham, England, which struck coins for Canada when the Royal Mint in London could not handle the full order. London coins of 1871 have no mint mark.
Which is scarcer, the 1871 or the 1871-H?
On mintage the London coin is scarcer: 800,000 were struck against 1,870,000 for the Heaton coin. Both carry a collector premium in any grade because they are early Victorian silver.
Mintage figures: Dime (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.