2003 P Uncrowned Canadian Penny
The 2003 P Uncrowned Canadian Penny is a one-cent coin struck for circulation with 591.3 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2003
- Circulation mintage
- 591,257,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Composition
- Copper-plated steel (94% steel, 1.5% nickel, 4.5% copper plating)
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 2003 P Uncrowned Canadian Penny worth?
With 591.3 million made, the 2003 P Uncrowned Canadian Penny is common. A circulated one is worth face value. The cent is still legal tender even though the Mint stopped issuing it in 2013. Only coins with full original red color, a recognized variety or a genuine error interest collectors.
What would make yours worth more:
- Full original red color
- A recognized variety or a genuine mint error
- Coins from a specimen or proof set
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 2003 P Uncrowned Canadian Penny rare?
- No. 591.3 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2003 P Uncrowned Canadian pennies were made?
- 591,257,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 2003 P Uncrowned Canadian Penny made of?
- Copper-plated steel (94% steel, 1.5% nickel, 4.5% copper plating). It weighs 2.35 g and measures 19.05 mm.
- Is the 2003 P Uncrowned 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 2003 penny in context
Susanna Blunt's uncrowned portrait arrived in 2003 and most cents carrying it that year were plated steel with the P mark. A total of 591,257,000 were struck, by far the largest run of the four 2003 types and more than ten times the uncrowned zinc version. By this point the mint was relying more and more on steel, which was cheaper than zinc.
The four 2003 types make the year a favorite with people who like sorting coins. Two portraits and two metals in a single year give four combinations, each with its own published mintage. This P uncrowned coin is the common one, the version you are most likely to find in a jar of change from the period. It still has a place in the story: it is the first year of the portrait that would stay on the cent until the end, combined with the steel composition that would come to dominate production. If you collect the cent by type, the 2003-P uncrowned is a natural reference coin for comparing the rarer versions of the same year.
How to recognize it
Susanna Blunt's portrait of the queen without a crown faces right, with ELIZABETH II D·G·REGINA around it and a small P below. Kruger Gray's maple twig, with CANADA, 1 CENT and the date, fills the reverse of the 2003-P uncrowned cent. The coin is round, weighs 2.35 g and is made of copper-plated steel, so it sticks to a magnet. Check the portrait first to rule out the crowned version, then look for the P. On a worn coin the P can be faint, but the magnet test settles the metal immediately and that is often the faster check. A crowned portrait with a P is the other steel type of the year, with a much smaller run.
2003 P Uncrowned Canadian Penny by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 2003 P Uncrowned Canadian Penny ranks 121st lowest of 151 Canadian cent dates and varieties from 1858 to 2012. The next scarcer is the 1997 Round Canadian Penny (549.9 million); the next more common is the 1995 Canadian Penny (625 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1981 Round Canadian Penny with 1.21 billion, about 2 times as many. The scarcest is the 1858 Canadian Penny with 421,000, 1404 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 2003 output was 5.2 times the 2002 figure and 1.1 times fewer than 2004. Other 2003 cents: 2003 Canadian Penny (92.2 million), 2003 P Canadian Penny (235.9 million) and 2003 Uncrowned Canadian Penny (56.9 million).
Over the 2000s the Mint produced 8.29 billion cents across 19 dates and varieties; the 2003 P Uncrowned Canadian Penny accounts for 7.1% of that.
What to check on your 2003 P Uncrowned Canadian Penny
- Try a magnet: a genuine 2003 P Uncrowned Canadian Penny is plated steel and sticks to it.
- Confirm the variety: P mark, uncrowned portrait. 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; bright original 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 nearly 600 million struck, the 2003-P uncrowned is common and worn coins are face value. Uncirculated red coins draw only a small premium. It is mainly of interest as part of a set of all four 2003 types, where it is the easiest to fill. Steel cents can rust where the plating is damaged, so look for an even copper surface with no orange or brown spots. Keep coins from this period in a dry place, since moisture is hard on plated steel over time and rust spots never come off cleanly.
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
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 1 cent |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 2003 |
| Circulation mintage | 591,257,000 |
| Composition | Copper-plated steel (94% steel, 1.5% nickel, 4.5% copper plating) |
| Weight | 2.35 g |
| Diameter | 19.05 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Plain |
Other 2003 Canadian pennies
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 Canadian Penny | 92,219,775 | Face value |
| 2003 P Canadian Penny | 235,936,799 | Face value |
| 2003 Uncrowned Canadian Penny | 56,887,144 | Face value |
Frequently asked questions
How many 2003 P uncrowned cents were made?
The records give 591,257,000 for circulation, the largest of the four 2003 types. That makes it the most common 2003 cent and the one you are most likely to find in old change.
How do you tell the 2003 cent types apart?
Check the portrait for a crown, then look for the P below it. A magnet confirms the metal: P cents are steel and stick, while cents without a P are zinc and don't react.
Mintage figures: Penny (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.