1916 Canadian Penny

Quick answers

Is the 1916 Canadian Penny rare?

It is scarcer than most Canadian pennies. Collectors pay a small premium for good examples.

How many 1916 Canadian pennies were made?

11,022,367 were struck for circulation.

What is the 1916 Canadian Penny made of?

Bronze (95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc). It weighs 5.67 g and measures 25.4 mm.

Is the 1916 Canadian Penny still legal tender?

Yes. The Royal Canadian Mint stopped distributing cents in 2013, but they remain legal tender. Cash payments are rounded to the nearest five cents, so most pennies now sit in jars or go to banks.

How to recognize it

The 1916 Canadian Penny is round, 25.4 mm across and bronze (95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc).

1916 Canadian Penny by the numbers

In mintage terms the 1916 Canadian Penny ranks 54th lowest of 151 Canadian cent dates and varieties from 1858 to 2012. The next scarcer is the 1937 Canadian Penny (10 million); the next more common is the 1919 Canadian Penny (11.3 million).

For scale, the most common is the 1981 Round Canadian Penny with 1.21 billion, about 110 times as many. The scarcest is the 1858 Canadian Penny with 421,000, 26 times fewer than this one.

Compared with the dates around it, the 1916 output was 2.2 times the 1915 figure and about the same as 1917.

Over the 1910s the Mint produced 76.2 million cents across 10 dates and varieties; the 1916 Canadian Penny accounts for 14% of that.

What to check on your 1916 Canadian Penny

• Check the color. Collectors describe copper cents as red, red-brown or brown; original red color is worth far more than toned or dull surfaces.
• Never clean it. Rubbing, polishing or dipping leaves fine scratches and an unnatural color that collectors spot at once.
• Look at the high points of the portrait and the lettering. Wear there sets the grade. The grade in turn drives the value of older cents.

George V large cents, 1911 to 1920

George V's crowned portrait by Bertram Mackennal first appeared on Canadian coins dated 1911 and it started with a controversy. The legend read GEORGIVS V REX ET IND: IMP:, leaving out DEI GRA:, the reference to ruling by the grace of God. Many Canadians objected to what the newspapers called Godless coins and from 1912 the legend was corrected to GEORGIVS V DEI GRA: REX ET IND: IMP:. The 1911 cent is the only large cent with the short legend, which makes it easy to check.

The coin kept its old dimensions of 25.4 mm and 5.67 g, with ONE CENT and the date inside the maple vine. The First World War changed the numbers. Mintages that had been three to six million a year before the war jumped to more than eleven million in each year from 1916 to 1919, with 1918 the highest at nearly thirteen million. Rising copper costs and the sheer bulk of the coin made a smaller cent attractive and in 1920 Canada switched to a 19.05 mm cent close in size to the American one.

Cents dated 1920 come in both sizes and the large ones are the last of their kind. For everything in this period, start with two checks: the legend on 1911 coins and the size on 1920 coins. Most dates are common in worn condition, especially the wartime years. Look for natural brown color and clear detail in the crown and the maple leaves. Coins that have spent decades in jars often carry dark spots or green verdigris and those lower collector interest more than ordinary wear does.

Mintage chart

Specifications