1951 Beaver Canadian Nickel
The 1951 Beaver Canadian Nickel is a Canadian nickel struck for circulation with 4.31 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1951
- Circulation mintage
- 4,313,410
- Value band
- Face value
- Composition
- Plated steel
Original illustration of the coin's shape and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Face value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1951 Beaver Canadian Nickel worth?
With 4.31 million made, the 1951 Beaver Canadian Nickel is common and worth face value in circulated condition. Only uncirculated coins with full luster, recognized varieties and genuine errors interest collectors.
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 1951 Beaver Canadian Nickel rare?
- No. 4.31 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 1951 Beaver Canadian nickels were made?
- 4,313,410 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1951 Beaver Canadian Nickel made of?
- Plated steel. It weighs 4.54 g and measures 21.2 mm, with a 12-sided shape.
- Is the 1951 Beaver Canadian Nickel still legal tender?
- Yes. Canadian 5-cent coins are legal tender.
The 1951 nickel in context
Just a few years after the Second World War, nickel was in demand again. The Korean War began in 1950 and the metal returned to the list of strategic materials, so the regular beaver five cents of 1951 was struck on plated steel instead of pure nickel. The mint produced 4,313,410 of them, a modest total for the period, partly because the commemorative refinery nickel struck in pure nickel the same year covered much of the demand.
The 1951 beaver also comes in two relief varieties. Most coins have the low relief portrait, which is the common type, but a small number were struck from dies with the portrait in higher relief. The high relief is scarce and is one of the better known varieties of the George VI nickels. Both are counted in the same mintage. The steel coins of 1951 and the years that followed were less hard wearing than nickel and many now show rust or worn plating. A clean 1951 beaver with sharp detail is therefore harder to find than its mintage might suggest.
How to recognize it
The obverse carries George VI by Paget with the shortened legend introduced in 1948. The reverse is Kruger Gray's beaver on a rock above water, with CANADA above and 5 CENTS below. The coin is 12-sided and struck in plated steel. It looks much like a nickel coin but has a slightly different shine and sticks firmly to a magnet. The high relief variety is an obverse difference. Look at the A in GRATIA: on the high relief it points straight at a tooth of the border, while on the low relief it points between two teeth. A magnifier and reference pictures make the call easier. The steel gives it a slightly brighter, cooler look when new.
1951 Beaver Canadian Nickel by the numbers
By the numbers, the 1951 Beaver Canadian Nickel ranks 55th lowest of 161 Canadian nickel dates and varieties from 1858 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 1914 Canadian Nickel (4.2 million); the next more common is the 1936 Canadian Nickel (4.4 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2008 Canadian Nickel with 278.5 million, about 65 times as many. The scarcest is the 1884 Canadian Nickel with 200,000, 22 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1951 output was 2.8 times fewer than 1950 and 2.5 times fewer than 1952. Other 1951 five cent coins: 1951 Nickel Bicentennial Canadian Nickel (9.03 million).
Over the 1950s the Mint produced 101.1 million five cent coins across 11 dates and varieties; the 1951 Beaver Canadian Nickel accounts for 4.3% of that.
What to check on your 1951 Beaver Canadian Nickel
- Try a magnet. Plated steel is magnetic, so a genuine 1951 coin sticks; a silver one would not.
- Never clean it. Rubbing or polishing leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- 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.
Check every 1951 beaver for the relief variety; it is easy to overlook. The standard low relief coin is common in worn grades. Look for intact plating and no rust spots, especially around the 12 corners. Keep steel coins dry and handle them by the edges, since moisture from your fingers can start corrosion over time. A sharp, spot free coin is the one to keep. The high relief coins are scarce, so take a close look before you put a 1951 back into a jar.
Postwar George VI nickels (1946 to 1952)
With the war over the beaver returned and so did nickel. From 1946 the coin was struck in pure nickel again but kept the 12-sided shape introduced during the war. Indian independence in 1947 meant George VI was no longer Emperor of India, so the IND IMP in the legend had to go. New dies were not ready in time, so the mint struck 1947 dated coins with a tiny maple leaf after the date during 1948 as a stopgap. From 1948 onward the legend reads simply that George VI is king by the grace of God.
1951 brought Canada's first commemorative five cents. Stephen Trenka designed a nickel refinery to mark 200 years since the Swedish chemist Axel Fredrik Cronstedt first isolated the metal in 1751. That piece was struck in pure nickel, but the Korean War soon put nickel back on the strategic list. The regular beaver coins of 1951 and 1952 were struck on plated steel, a change that lasted until 1954.
The 1948 is the scarce date of this group at 1,810,789. The 1947 maple leaf coin is popular and easy to spot once you look for the leaf after the date. The 1951 refinery design stands out at a glance and is common. For the steel coins check for rust spots and peeling plating. On all of them the beaver's back and the water lines show wear first, while the edges of a 12-sided coin should be crisp.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 5 cents |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 1951 |
| Circulation mintage | 4,313,410 |
| Composition | Plated steel |
| Weight | 4.54 g |
| Diameter | 21.2 mm |
| Shape | 12-sided |
| Edge | Plain |
Other 1951 Canadian nickels
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 Nickel Bicentennial Canadian Nickel | 9,028,507 | Face value |
Frequently asked questions
Why is the 1951 beaver nickel made of steel?
The Korean War made nickel a strategic metal again, so the mint switched to plated steel for the regular five cents from 1951. Pure nickel did not return to the beaver coin until 1955.
What is the 1951 high relief variety?
A small number of 1951 beavers were struck from obverse dies with the king's portrait in higher relief. The variety is scarce. Check the A in GRATIA: on the high relief it points at a border tooth and on the low relief it points between two. Compare with reference photos.
Mintage figures: Nickel (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.