1890 H Canadian Nickel
The 1890 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
- 1890
- 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 1890 H Canadian Nickel worth?
The 1890 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 1890 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 1890 H Canadian nickels were made?
- 1,000,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1890 H Canadian Nickel made of?
- Sterling silver (92.5% silver). It weighs 1.16 g and measures 15.5 mm.
- Is the 1890 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 1890 nickel in context
In 1890 the Royal Mint in London passed the Canadian five cents order to Ralph Heaton & Sons in Birmingham once again. The result was 1,000,000 coins marked with a small H, the first Heaton five cents since 1883 and, as it turned out, the last of Victoria's reign. Every five cents from 1891 to 1901 came from London. Heaton had struck the five cents in seven earlier years, starting in 1872, so the Birmingham firm knew the work well.
Heaton was a private firm that struck coins for many countries, from British colonies to independent states, when the Royal Mint had more work than it could handle. Its Canadian orders were never large and the 1890-H mintage sits at the low end of the period. That makes it a better date in the Victorian series and an essential piece for collectors who want an example of every mint mark as well as every year. The coins went out into a country that was still largely rural, where small silver passed from hand to hand for years.
How to recognize it
The obverse is the same crowned Victoria with VICTORIA DEI GRATIA REGINA CANADA that had been used since 1870. The reverse shows 5 CENTS and the date at the center of a maple wreath with a crown above, plus the H that tells you the coin was struck in Birmingham. The coin is sterling silver of about 1.16 g. Because it is so small, the H is also small, so use a magnifier and look closely at the reverse to find it. A coin of 1890 without an H would be a surprise. There are no date varieties noted in the mintage records.
1890 H Canadian Nickel by the numbers
By the numbers, the 1890 H Canadian Nickel ranks 14th lowest of 161 Canadian nickel dates and varieties from 1858 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 1888 Canadian Nickel (1 million); the next more common is the 1903 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 1890 output was 1.2 times fewer than 1889 and 1.8 times fewer than 1891.
Over the 1890s the Mint produced 12.3 million five cent coins across 9 dates and varieties; the 1890 H Canadian Nickel accounts for 8.2% of that.
What to check on your 1890 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.
With a mintage of 1,000,000 the 1890-H is one of the scarcer Victorian dates and carries a collector premium in any condition. Check the date carefully, since an 1880-H or 1890-H can look alike when the third digit is worn. Holes, solder and scratches were common on these little coins, so a problem free piece is worth seeking out. Look at the wreath and the crown on the reverse: on a well kept coin each leaf has visible veins. A clear, even coin with natural toning is the one to hold onto.
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 | 1890 |
| 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
What does the H on an 1890 five cents mean?
It stands for Heaton, the private mint of Ralph Heaton & Sons in Birmingham, England. The firm struck the 1890 order for Canada. All five cents dated 1890 carry the H.
How do you tell an 1890-H from an 1880-H?
Both have the H, so the third digit is the only difference. Look under good light for the curve of the 9 against the round 8. If that digit is worn smooth, compare its outline with a reference photo.
Mintage figures: Nickel (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.