1925 Canadian Penny
The 1925 Canadian Penny is a one-cent coin struck for circulation with 1 million made. Value band: collector premium. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1925
- Circulation mintage
- 1,000,622
- Value band
- Collector premium
- Composition
- Bronze (95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc)
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 1925 Canadian Penny worth?
With 1 million struck, the 1925 Canadian Penny ranks 7th lowest of the 151 Canadian cent dates and varieties we track. Collectors pay a collector premium even for worn examples. Sharp, uncirculated coins with no marks bring considerably more.
What would make yours worth more:
- Original red color rather than brown
- Sharp detail in the portrait and leaves
- 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 1925 Canadian Penny rare?
- Yes, by the standards of Canadian pennies. With 1 million struck, the 1925 Canadian Penny ranks 7th lowest of the 151 Canadian cent dates and varieties we track.
- How many 1925 Canadian pennies were made?
- 1,000,622 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1925 Canadian Penny made of?
- Bronze (95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc). It weighs 3.24 g and measures 19.05 mm.
- Is the 1925 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.
The 1925 penny in context
The 1925 has the lowest mintage of any George V small cent: 1,000,622 coins. That is a few thousand fewer than the 1923 and the two are the recognized keys of the series. It came at the bottom of the five year slump in cent production, when the banks still had plenty of coins from the huge runs of 1920 and 1921.
Of all the small cents from the 1920s, the 1925 is the one most collectors think of first. It was a famously tough date to pull from circulation even in the decades when old cents were still common in change and the survivors are mostly well worn. A sharp 1925 is a coin worth protecting. Many people who sort through old Canadian cents are hoping to find exactly this one and it is often the coin that completes a George V small cent collection. Production picked up a little in 1926 and by 1928 the mint was making nine million cents a year again, so the 1925 really is the low point.
How to recognize it
The obverse of the 1925 cent carries Mackennal's crowned George V with GEORGIVS V DEI GRA: REX ET IND: IMP:. The reverse has two maple leaves on a single stem, ONE CENT between them, CANADA above and 1925 below. The coin is 19.05 mm and 3.24 g. Look carefully at the 5, since on a worn coin it can resemble a 3 or a 6. Check it under a magnifier with the light coming from the side, which brings out the shape of worn digits better than direct light. The flat top stroke of a genuine 5 is usually the part that survives longest.
1925 Canadian Penny by the numbers
In mintage terms the 1925 Canadian Penny ranks 7th lowest of 151 Canadian cent dates and varieties from 1858 to 2012. The next scarcer is the 1900 Canadian Penny (1 million); the next more common is the 1923 Canadian Penny (1.02 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1981 Round Canadian Penny with 1.21 billion, about 1209 times as many. The scarcest is the 1858 Canadian Penny with 421,000, 2.4 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1925 output was 1.6 times fewer than 1924 and 2.1 times fewer than 1926.
Over the 1920s the Mint produced 61.7 million cents across 11 dates and varieties; the 1925 Canadian Penny accounts for 1.6% of that.
What to check on your 1925 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.
With just over one million struck, the 1925 carries a collector premium in every grade and a strong one in fine condition or better. Uncirculated coins are scarce and in high demand. Altered dates are a known problem, so examine the 5 for signs of tooling. A genuine coin shows even wear across the date and the rest of the coin, with the digits sitting naturally in the field. Natural brown surfaces are preferred over bright ones. A grading service is a sensible step for any sharp 1925 you plan to keep or sell.
George V small cents, 1920 to 1936
In 1920 Canada replaced its big copper cent with a much smaller coin: 19.05 mm and 3.24 g, close in size to the cent used across the border. Some large cents dated 1920 were still struck before the change, so both sizes share the date. The small cent kept Mackennal's crowned George V and the corrected legend, but it got a new reverse with two maple leaves on a single stem, ONE CENT between them, CANADA above and the date below. The alloy stayed at 95.5% copper, 3% tin and 1.5% zinc.
The new coin was produced in huge numbers at first: more than fifteen million small cents in 1920 and over seven million in 1921. That left plenty in stock and output collapsed for the next five years. The mintages for 1922 to 1926 run from about one million to two million, with 1923 and 1925 the lowest. Those years are the keys of the whole small cent series. Output recovered in the late 1920s, dipped again to about 2.5 million in 1930 as the Depression set in, then jumped past 21 million in 1932.
George V died in January 1936. Cents dated 1936 still carry his portrait, because Edward VIII's coins were never issued in Canada. Cents dated 1936 with a small dot below the date were struck in early 1937 while dies for George VI were not ready, yet only a few are known today. For anything from 1922 to 1926, check the date with a magnifier, since key dates attract altered coins. Wear shows first on the crown and the leaf veins.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 1 cent |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 1925 |
| Circulation mintage | 1,000,622 |
| Composition | Bronze (95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc) |
| Weight | 3.24 g |
| Diameter | 19.05 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Plain |
Frequently asked questions
What is the rarest George V small cent?
By mintage, the 1925 with 1,000,622 struck, just below the 1923 at 1,019,002. Both are key dates and draw a collector premium in every grade. The 1936 dot cent is far rarer but was never issued normally.
Is the 1925 Canadian penny valuable?
It is one of the key dates of the series, so collectors pay a collector premium even for worn examples. Sharp and uncirculated coins draw the most interest. Have the date checked if anything about it looks unusual.
Mintage figures: Penny (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.