1921 Canadian Nickel
The 1921 Canadian Nickel is a Canadian nickel struck for circulation with 2.58 million made. Value band: significant rarity. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1921
- Circulation mintage
- 2,582,495
- Value band
- Significant rarity
- Composition
- 80% silver, 20% copper
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 a 1921 Canadian Nickel worth?
Almost the entire 1921 mintage of silver five cent pieces was melted at the Mint. Estimates of the number that survive range from about 400 to 480. That makes the 1921 Canadian Nickel a significant rarity by any standard. Genuine examples are worth far more than their metal. Any coin offered as one should be authenticated and graded by a professional service before money changes hands.
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 1921 Canadian Nickel rare?
- Yes, by the standards of Canadian nickels. Almost the entire 1921 mintage of silver five cent pieces was melted at the Mint.
- How many 1921 Canadian nickels were made?
- 2,582,495 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1921 Canadian Nickel made of?
- 80% silver, 20% copper. It weighs 1.17 g and measures 15.5 mm.
- Is the 1921 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 1921 nickel in context
The 1921 silver five cents is one of the most famous rarities in Canadian coinage. The Ottawa mint struck 2,582,495 of them, a perfectly ordinary figure for the time. But in 1922 Canada replaced the tiny silver coin with a large nickel piece and most of the 1921 coins had not yet been released. They were melted down at the mint. The coins were struck as normal, but in May 1921 Parliament approved a larger nickel coin to replace them.
Only a small number escaped, mostly coins that had already left the mint before the decision was made. Estimates put the surviving population at about 400 to 460 coins. That transforms an ordinary mintage into a significant rarity. Collectors often call it the Prince of Canadian coins, a nod to the even rarer 1921 fifty cents that has long been known as the King. A 1921 is the coin many Canadians imagine finding in an old jar, so the date is checked often and fakes are common. Treat any example with care.
How to recognize it
The 1921 five cents looks just like the 1920. It carries Mackennal's crowned George V with the legend GEORGIUS V DEI GRA: REX ET IND: IMP: and a reverse of 5 CENTS and the date inside a maple wreath under a crown. It is struck in .800 silver and weighs about 1.17 g. Because the design is identical to other years, the date is the only thing that marks a 1921. That is exactly why so many fakes are altered dates on common coins, with one digit tooled to read 1921. Weight, size and the style of the digits should all match a 1920 closely.
1921 Canadian Nickel by the numbers
By the numbers, the 1921 Canadian Nickel ranks 38th lowest of 161 Canadian nickel dates and varieties from 1858 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 1916 Canadian Nickel (2.48 million); the next more common is the 1933 Canadian Nickel (2.6 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2008 Canadian Nickel with 278.5 million, about 108 times as many. The scarcest is the 1884 Canadian Nickel with 200,000, 13 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1921 output was 4.1 times fewer than 1920 and 1.8 times fewer than 1922.
Over the 1920s the Mint produced 40.1 million five cent coins across 10 dates and varieties; the 1921 Canadian Nickel accounts for 6.4% of that.
What to check on your 1921 Canadian Nickel
- Check the date first: silver Canadian nickels carry dates from 1858 to 1921; this one has 0.0301 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.
If you think you have a 1921, compare the shape of every digit with confirmed examples and check for tooling marks around the final 1. Weight and size should match exactly. Genuine coins are a significant rarity, so have yours authenticated by a recognized grading service before you do anything else. Do not clean it. Keep the coin in a soft, inert holder and handle it by the edges. Any genuine 1921 deserves professional care from the moment you identify it.
George V silver five cents (1911 to 1921)
George V's portrait by Sir Bertram Mackennal arrived in 1911 and started with a famous blunder. The legend left out DEI GRA, the phrase meaning by the grace of God, so the 1911 coins were quickly nicknamed Godless. After public complaints the phrase was restored in 1912 and stayed. The reverse kept the maple wreath and crown around 5 CENTS and the date. The coin was still tiny at about 1.17 g and still struck in Ottawa.
War pushed output up. Mintages climbed from just over a million in 1915 to nearly eleven million in 1920. Silver prices also rose sharply after the war, so from 1920 the fineness was cut from .925 to .800. By then the little coin had plenty of critics, since it was easy to drop and lose. In 1922 Canada replaced it with a much larger coin made of nickel. Most of the 1921 silver five cents were still at the mint when the switch came and were melted down, turning an ordinary mintage into one of the great Canadian rarities.
Check the legend first: no DEI GRA means a 1911. The 1915 is the scarce circulation date of the group with a mintage of 1,172,258, while 1917 to 1920 are the easiest to find. Any 1921 deserves careful study, because genuine pieces are very rare and altered dates exist. As with earlier silver, look at the crown and leaf veins for wear and be wary of coins that shine too brightly, which usually means they were cleaned.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 5 cents |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 1921 |
| Circulation mintage | 2,582,495 |
| Composition | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| Weight | 1.17 g |
| Diameter | 15.5 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Reeded |
Frequently asked questions
Why is the 1921 five cents so rare if millions were made?
Most of the 2,582,495 coins were still in the mint when Canada switched to a large nickel coin in 1922. The unreleased silver five cents were melted, leaving only an estimated 400 to 460 known today.
How can you tell if a 1921 is genuine?
Check the date for tool marks, uneven fields or digits that do not match the style of real 1921 coins. Weigh it carefully too. Because fakes and altered dates are common, a grading service should confirm it.
Mintage figures: Nickel (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.