1890 H Canadian Dime
The 1890 H Canadian Dime is a Canadian dime struck for circulation with 450,000 made. Value band: small premium. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1890
- Circulation mintage
- 450,000
- Value band
- Small premium
- 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 1890 H Canadian Dime worth?
At 450,000, the 1890 H Canadian Dime has a smaller run than most Canadian dimes, 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:
- 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 1890 H Canadian Dime rare?
- It is scarcer than most Canadian dimes. Collectors pay a small premium for good examples.
- How many 1890 H Canadian dimes were made?
- 450,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1890 H Canadian Dime made of?
- Sterling silver (92.5% silver). It weighs 2.33 g and measures 18.03 mm.
- Is the 1890 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 1890 dime in context
The 1890-H is the last dime of Victoria's reign struck by the Heaton mint in Birmingham. Its published mintage is 450,000, slightly below the 500,000 of 1888 and well under the 800,000 of 1891. After 1890 the Royal Mint in London took over all of Canada's dime orders until the end of the reign. The next Heaton dimes would not come until Edward VII's 1902-H.
For collectors this makes the 1890-H a natural milestone. It closes a long association between Canada and the Birmingham mint that began with the 1871-H and it is one of the scarcer dates of the later Victorian years. Like other dimes of the period it saw heavy use. Coins that survive with a clear date and a readable H on the reverse are much less common than worn ones. It sits right after the troublesome 1889, so dealers and collectors often look at the two together. The year after a famous rarity often gets overlooked, but the 1890-H has a lower mintage than many of its neighbors.
How to recognize it
On the obverse the diademed queen faces left within VICTORIA DEI GRATIA REGINA CANADA. On the reverse, 10 CENTS and 1890 sit inside a crowned wreath of maple leaves, together with the small H of the Heaton mint. In sterling silver it weighs about 2.33 g at 18 mm across, with a reeded edge and just under 0.07 troy oz of pure silver. There is no London 1890 dime, so a genuine 1890 should always show the H, though wear can make it faint. Check the 9 and the 0 as well, since worn dates can be hard to read.
1890 H Canadian Dime by the numbers
By the numbers, the 1890 H Canadian Dime ranks 8th lowest of 157 Canadian dime dates and varieties from 1858 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 1948 Canadian Dime (422,741); the next more common is the 1888 Canadian Dime (500,000).
For scale, the most common is the 2008 Canadian Dime with 467.5 million, about 1039 times as many. The scarcest is the 1884 Canadian Dime with 150,000, 3 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1890 output was 1.3 times fewer than 1889 and 1.8 times fewer than 1891.
Over the 1890s the Mint produced 5.34 million dimes across 8 dates and varieties; the 1890 H Canadian Dime accounts for 8.4% of that.
What to check on your 1890 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.
The 1890-H carries a collector premium in any grade. Look for the H with a magnifier and confirm the date. Coins with detail in the hair and the maple leaves are the ones collectors want most, while holed or heavily cleaned coins are much less desirable. It is a good date to pair with an 1871-H to show the first and last Heaton dimes of the reign. It also shows the last of Heaton's distinctive work on the dime for twelve years, which gives it a place in the story beyond its mintage.
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 | 1890 |
| Circulation mintage | 450,000 |
| Composition | Sterling silver (92.5% silver) |
| Weight | 2.33 g |
| Diameter | 18.03 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Reeded |
Frequently asked questions
Is the 1890-H the last Victorian Heaton dime?
Yes. After 1890 all of Victoria's dimes were struck in London. The Heaton mint returned for Canada's dimes in 1902 and 1903, under Edward VII. The 1890-H is therefore the end of the first run of Heaton dimes.
How many 1890-H dimes were struck?
The published mintage is 450,000, all from the Heaton mint. That is low for the period, which is why the 1890-H is one of the scarcer later Victorian dates. No London coin carries that date.
Mintage figures: Dime (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.