1875 H Canadian Nickel
The 1875 H Canadian Nickel is a Canadian nickel struck for circulation with 1 million made. Value band: metal value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1875
- Circulation mintage
- 1,000,000
- 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 1875 H Canadian Nickel worth?
The 1875 H Canadian Nickel is a silver coin with 0.0345 troy ounces of pure silver, so its floor is its metal value: 0.0345 times the day's silver spot price. With 1 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 1875 H Canadian Nickel rare?
- Not by mintage. 1 million were made, but it is silver, so even worn examples are worth their metal value rather than face value.
- How many 1875 H Canadian nickels were made?
- 1,000,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1875 H Canadian Nickel made of?
- Sterling silver (92.5% silver). It weighs 1.16 g and measures 15.5 mm.
- Is the 1875 H Canadian Nickel still legal tender?
- Yes. Canadian 5-cent coins are legal tender, but a silver one is worth more for its metal than its face value.
The 1875 nickel in context
The 1875-H comes from the middle of a busy period for the private Heaton mint. Ralph Heaton & Sons of Birmingham struck Canada's five cents in 1872, 1874 and 1875 when the Royal Mint in London had too much work of its own and each of those coins carries a small H on the reverse. For 1875 the order was 1,000,000 pieces. After it, no five cents were struck again until 1880, so these coins had to cover several years of demand. It was the third Heaton order for the denomination in four years.
On paper a million coins is not a tiny figure and plenty of Victorian dates had lower totals. Yet the 1875-H has long been regarded by collectors as one of the hardest Victorian five cents to find. Many were likely worn out, lost or melted over time. Whatever the reason, survivors in any grade are not easy to come by, which is why the date gets far more attention than its mintage alone would suggest. Specialists rank it alongside 1884 and 1887 as one of the dates that hold a Victorian set back.
How to recognize it
The design is the standard Dominion type. Victoria wears a crown on the obverse, with the legend VICTORIA DEI GRATIA REGINA CANADA. The reverse carries 5 CENTS and the date in a ring of maple leaves under a crown, with the H mint mark showing it was struck in Birmingham. The silver content and size are the same as other years: sterling silver of about 1.16 g. Two date sizes were used in 1875, small and large. The mintage covers both. The size difference shows mostly in the height and spacing of the numerals. Look for the H with a magnifier, since it is tiny.
1875 H Canadian Nickel by the numbers
By the numbers, the 1875 H Canadian Nickel ranks 10th lowest of 161 Canadian nickel dates and varieties from 1858 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 1926 Canadian Nickel (933,577); the next more common is the 1882 H Canadian Nickel (1 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2008 Canadian Nickel with 278.5 million, about 279 times as many. The scarcest is the 1884 Canadian Nickel with 200,000, 5 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1875 output was 1.3 times the 1874 figure and 3 times fewer than 1880.
Over the 1870s the Mint produced 8 million five cent coins across 5 dates and varieties; the 1875 H Canadian Nickel accounts for 13% of that.
What to check on your 1875 H Canadian Nickel
- Check the date first: silver Canadian nickels carry dates from 1858 to 1921; this one has 0.0345 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 five cent coins.
Confirm the H first, because 1875 five cents were only struck at Heaton. Then compare the date with a reference picture to decide whether you have the small or large date. This is a date where counterfeits and altered coins are worth guarding against, so a professionally graded coin gives peace of mind. Even worn, a genuine 1875-H carries a collector premium. Natural toning is normal and welcome. Holes, solder or scratches lower the appeal, though even a damaged 1875-H draws interest.
Queen Victoria silver five cents (1858 to 1901)
Canada's five cent piece started life as a tiny silver coin. In 1858 the Province of Canada moved its accounts from pounds, shillings and pence to dollars and cents, so it ordered new coins from the Royal Mint in London: a bronze cent plus silver 5, 10 and 20 cent pieces. The 5 cent weighed about 1.16 g of sterling (.925) silver and was barely bigger than a fingernail. Leonard Charles Wyon engraved a young laureate Victoria for the first issue. After Confederation the Dominion placed its own orders from 1870, now with a crowned portrait of the queen.
Canada had no mint of its own, so every one of these coins came from England. London struck most years, while Ralph Heaton & Sons of Birmingham filled several orders and marked them with a small H on the reverse. The reverse barely changed in more than forty years: 5 CENTS and the date inside a wreath of maple leaves with a crown on top. Production came in bursts. Nothing was dated 1859 to 1869, 1873, 1876 to 1879 or 1895 and yearly totals swing from 200,000 to 3,000,000.
Start with the date and check for an H, since the pair identifies the issue. The low mintage years are the ones to hope for: 1884 above all, then 1887, 1894 and 1898, with 1875-H scarcer than its total suggests. These coins were easy to lose and were often holed or made into jewelry, which is part of why decent survivors are hard to find. On a worn piece the hair detail and the leaf veins go first. Collectors also hunt small date varieties, such as overdates and different sizes of numeral, recorded in the mintage notes.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 5 cents |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 1875 |
| Circulation mintage | 1,000,000 |
| Composition | Sterling silver (92.5% silver) |
| Weight | 1.16 g |
| Diameter | 15.5 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Reeded |
Frequently asked questions
Is there an 1875 five cents without an H?
No. Every five cents dated 1875 was struck by Heaton in Birmingham and carries the H. If your coin shows no H, check the date again, since a worn 1885 can be misread as 1875.
Is it worth getting an 1875-H graded?
For a scarce date like this it is a sensible step. Grading confirms the coin is genuine, records the variety and gives buyers confidence. Do not clean the coin before sending it, since cleaning lowers its standing with collectors.
Mintage figures: Nickel (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.