2006 Mint Logo Canadian Penny
The 2006 Mint Logo Canadian Penny is a one-cent coin struck for circulation with 886.3 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2006
- Circulation mintage
- 886,275,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Composition
- Copper-plated steel or copper-plated zinc (a magnet tells them apart)
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 2006 Mint Logo Canadian Penny worth?
With 886.3 million made, the 2006 Mint Logo 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 2006 Mint Logo Canadian Penny rare?
- No. 886.3 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2006 Mint Logo Canadian pennies were made?
- 886,275,000 were struck for circulation (a combined figure for the Mint Logo and No Logo varieties).
- What is the 2006 Mint Logo Canadian Penny made of?
- Copper-plated steel or copper-plated zinc (a magnet tells them apart). It weighs 2.35 g (steel) or 2.25 g (zinc) and measures 19.05 mm.
- Is the 2006 Mint Logo 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 2006 penny in context
The Royal Canadian Mint's logo first appeared on circulation cents in 2006, taking the place of the P mark that had appeared on plated steel cents since 2002. Cents of that year come in three forms: with the P, with the logo and with no mark. The logo and no logo coins share a published total of 886,275,000, while the P coins have their own figure of 137,733,000. The logo appeared on cents from then until production ended.
The logo coin marks the start of the final phase of the Canadian cent. From 2007 the useful way to tell cents apart is by magnet, with the published mintages split between steel and zinc. The P never returned. That makes the 2006 logo cent a transition piece between the P era and the last years of the cent. It carries the same designs as every other cent of the period: Susanna Blunt's uncrowned portrait and Kruger Gray's maple twig. Collectors who enjoy small details like this one, since it is a nice way to show how even a common coin can change from year to year in ways most people never notice.
How to recognize it
The obverse of the 2006 logo cent shows Susanna Blunt's uncrowned queen facing right, with ELIZABETH II D·G·REGINA. The Royal Canadian Mint's small logo appears on the coin and there is no P. On the reverse of the 2006 logo cent is the familiar maple twig by Kruger Gray, with CANADA, 1 CENT and the date. The logo is small, so examine both sides of the coin carefully under a magnifier. A magnet is worth trying as well, since it tells you whether you have steel or zinc. Comparing your coin with one marked P and one with no mark makes the differences much easier to see. The weight, 2.35 g for steel or 2.25 g for zinc, is a further check.
2006 Mint Logo Canadian Penny by the numbers
The published 886,275,000 for 2006 covers both the Mint Logo and No Logo varieties together, so neither can be ranked on its own. As a date, 2006 sits 140th lowest among Canadian penny dates by output.
Compared with the dates around it, the 2006 output was 29 times the 2005 figure and about the same as 2007. Other 2006 cents: 2006 No Logo Canadian Penny and 2006 P Canadian Penny (137.7 million).
Over the 2000s the Mint produced 8.29 billion cents across 19 dates and varieties; the 2006 Mint Logo Canadian Penny accounts for 11% of that.
What to check on your 2006 Mint Logo Canadian Penny
- Try a magnet. Steel cents stick and zinc cents don't, which is how the two compositions of 2006 are told apart.
- Confirm the variety: Mint logo. 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.
Worn 2006 logo cents are face value, given the large shared mintage. Only a fully red uncirculated 2006 logo cent draws even a small premium. The coin is mainly of interest to collectors building a set of the three 2006 forms or a run of logo cents from 2006 to 2012. Since there is no separate mintage, the split between the logo and no logo coins is unknown. Look for coins with intact plating and keep them in labeled holders so the types don't get mixed up. Bright red coins straight from a roll are the ones worth saving.
Plated steel and the last cents, 2004 to 2012
By 2004 the cent was being made in two versions: copper-plated zinc at 2.25 g and copper-plated steel at 2.35 g. Steel coins carried a small P through 2006. That year the Royal Canadian Mint began placing its own logo on coins, so 2006 cents come with a P, with the logo or with no mark at all. From 2007 the useful way to sort them is with a magnet. Steel cents stick and zinc cents don't and the published mintages for several years split along those lines.
The design stayed the same throughout: Susanna Blunt's uncrowned portrait of the queen on one side and Kruger Gray's maple twig on the other. What changed was the economics. By then the cent had come to cost more than its face value to make. The federal government announced in 2012 that production would stop and the mint struck its final cent that May in Winnipeg. Banks stopped receiving new supplies after February 4, 2013, when the mint ceased distributing cents. Cash prices are now rounded to the nearest five cents, while electronic payments still settle to the cent.
Cents remain legal tender and huge numbers sit in jars across the country, so almost all of these coins are face value. The points worth checking are the magnet result and the date. Non-magnetic zinc coins from 2007 had a far smaller run than the steel ones and the split for 2009 is lopsided too. The last year, 2012, has two short runs, which gives the final cent a little extra appeal. Keep any bright uncirculated pieces separate, since those are what collectors want.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 1 cent |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 2006 |
| Circulation mintage | 886,275,000 (with the No Logo variety) |
| Composition | Copper-plated steel or copper-plated zinc (a magnet tells them apart) |
| Weight | 2.35 g (steel) or 2.25 g (zinc) |
| Diameter | 19.05 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Plain |
Other 2006 Canadian pennies
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 No Logo Canadian Penny | 886,275,000 | Face value |
| 2006 P Canadian Penny | 137,733,000 | Face value |
Frequently asked questions
What is the logo on 2006 Canadian cents?
It is the Royal Canadian Mint's own logo, added to its coins as a maker's mark. It first appeared on circulation cents in 2006, replacing the P mark and stayed on the cent until production ended in 2012.
Is the 2006 logo cent rare?
No. It shares a published mintage of 886,275,000 with the no logo coins, so both are common. Worn coins are face value and uncirculated red coins draw a small premium at most.
Mintage figures: Penny (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.