1996 12-Sided Canadian Penny

Quick answers

Is the 1996 12-Sided Canadian Penny rare?

No. 445.7 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.

How many 1996 12-Sided Canadian pennies were made?

445,746,000 were struck for circulation.

What is the 1996 12-Sided Canadian Penny made of?

Bronze (98% copper, 1.75% tin, 0.25% zinc). It weighs 2.5 g and measures 19.1 mm, with a 12-sided shape.

Is the 1996 12-Sided 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 obverse of the 1996 cent carries Dora de Pédery-Hunt's crowned portrait of the queen with ELIZABETH II D·G·REGINA. The reverse is Kruger Gray's maple twig with CANADA, 1 CENT and 1996. The 1996 cent has twelve sides, weighs 2.5 g and is struck in bronze of 98% copper, 1.75% tin and 0.25% zinc. The shape is the key detail: the 1996 is the last date with twelve sides. The portrait is the crowned effigy introduced in 1990, which helps if the date is worn, since it narrows a 12-sided coin to the years 1990 to 1996. From there, the last digit is usually readable with a magnifier. Twelve sides with a tiara portrait means 1982 to 1989 instead.

1996 12-Sided Canadian Penny by the numbers

In mintage terms the 1996 12-Sided Canadian Penny ranks 113th lowest of 151 Canadian cent dates and varieties from 1858 to 2012. The next scarcer is the 2009 Magnetic Canadian Penny (419.1 million); the next more common is the 1972 Canadian Penny (451.3 million).

For scale, the most common is the 1981 Round Canadian Penny with 1.21 billion, about 2.7 times as many. The scarcest is the 1858 Canadian Penny with 421,000, 1059 times fewer than this one.

Compared with the dates around it, the 1996 output was 1.4 times fewer than 1995 and 1.2 times fewer than 1997.

Over the 1990s the Mint produced 6.82 billion cents across 10 dates and varieties; the 1996 12-Sided Canadian Penny accounts for 6.5% of that.

What to check on your 1996 12-Sided Canadian Penny

• Confirm the variety: 12-sided. Use a magnifier and compare with a reference picture before you assume you have the scarcer one.
• 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.

With more than 445 million struck, the 1996 is common and worn coins are face value. Uncirculated 1996 cents with original red color draw a small premium at most. Its appeal is as the last 12-sided cent and many collectors pair it with a 1997 round cent. On a 1996 cent, look for full red color and crisp corners on all twelve sides. Rolls of 1996 cents still turn up from time to time and since bronze tones over time, a coin with original red surfaces is much more appealing than one that has gone brown or been cleaned.

Crowned and uncrowned portraits, 1990 to 2003

Dora de Pédery-Hunt's crowned portrait of the queen arrived in 1990, making her the first Canadian artist to design the royal effigy for Canada's coins. In 1992 cents carried the double date 1867-1992 for the 125th anniversary of Confederation. The 12-sided shape ended after 1996. From 1997 the cent was round again and made of zinc with a thin copper plating, 2.25 g, as the price of copper made a solid bronze coin too costly. Cents dated 2002 carry 1952-2002 for the Golden Jubilee of the queen's accession.

Copper-plated steel arrived on circulation cents dated 2002. These are marked with a small P for plated and weigh 2.35 g and for several years zinc and steel coins were made side by side. In 2003, fifty years after the coronation, Susanna Blunt's portrait replaced de Pédery-Hunt's. It shows the queen without a crown and it stayed on the cent until production ended. That gives 2003 four distinct types: crowned without a P, crowned with a P, uncrowned without a P and uncrowned with a P.

The useful checks here are the portrait, the shape and a magnet. A 12-sided coin is from 1996 or earlier. A P under the portrait means plated steel and a fridge magnet will pick those up while zinc cents ignore it. On 2003 coins, look at the queen's head first: a crown or bare hair tells you which portrait you have. Mintages are huge, apart from a few short runs in 2003, so almost every coin here is face value unless it is a variety in sharp condition.

Mintage chart

Specifications

Frequently asked questions