2012 Magnetic Canadian Penny
The 2012 Magnetic Canadian Penny is a one-cent coin struck for circulation with 111.4 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2012
- Circulation mintage
- 111,375,000
- 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 2012 Magnetic Canadian Penny worth?
With 111.4 million made, the 2012 Magnetic 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 2012 Magnetic Canadian Penny rare?
- No. 111.4 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2012 Magnetic Canadian pennies were made?
- 111,375,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 2012 Magnetic 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 2012 Magnetic 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 2012 penny in context
The 2012 cents are the last Canadian cents. The federal government announced in its 2012 budget that production would end and the final cent was struck that May at the Royal Canadian Mint's facility in Winnipeg. The records show 111,375,000 magnetic steel cents for the year, along with 87,972,000 non-magnetic zinc cents, the smallest yearly total since 1966.
By then the cent had come to cost more than its face value to make and many Canadians had stopped using it in everyday change. On February 4, 2013, the Mint stopped distributing cents to banks. Since then cash transactions have been rounded to the nearest five cents, while electronic payments still settle to the cent. Cents remain legal tender and huge numbers are still sitting in jars and drawers across the country. The 2012 steel cent is the more common of the two final versions, but both carry the special appeal of the last year. Many people set aside a few 2012 cents as a keepsake of the end of the coin.
How to recognize it
On the 2012 steel cent, the queen appears uncrowned in Susanna Blunt's portrait, with ELIZABETH II D·G·REGINA around her. The reverse is Kruger Gray's maple twig with CANADA, 1 CENT and 2012. Made of copper-plated steel at 2.35 g, the round 2012 steel cent clings to a magnet. The zinc version of 2012 looks identical but weighs 2.25 g and does not react to a magnet. The maple twig on this coin is the same design first used in 1937, which makes the last cent a link to seventy five years of Canadian change. Blunt's uncrowned portrait had been in place on the cent since 2003.
2012 Magnetic Canadian Penny by the numbers
By the numbers, the 2012 Magnetic Canadian Penny ranks 93rd lowest of 151 Canadian cent dates and varieties from 1858 to 2012. The next scarcer is the 1957 Canadian Penny (100.6 million); the next more common is the 2002 P Canadian Penny (114.2 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1981 Round Canadian Penny with 1.21 billion, about 11 times as many. The scarcest is the 1858 Canadian Penny with 421,000, 265 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 2012 output was 2.7 times fewer than 2011. Other 2012 cents: 2012 Non-Magnetic Canadian Penny (88 million).
Over the 2010s the Mint produced 1.35 billion cents across 5 dates and varieties; the 2012 Magnetic Canadian Penny accounts for 8.3% of that.
What to check on your 2012 Magnetic Canadian Penny
- Try a magnet: a genuine 2012 Magnetic Canadian Penny is plated steel and sticks to it.
- Confirm the variety: magnetic (steel). 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 2012 steel cents are face value. Uncirculated red coins draw a small premium and the last year status gives them extra appeal. The mint also marked the end of the cent with collector products, but the circulation coin is what most people have. If you want a keepsake, pick a coin with full red color and no spots and keep it in a holder. Steel cents can rust where the plating is scratched, so store them somewhere dry. A sealed roll from 2012 is an easy way to keep a group of last year coins in good condition.
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 | 2012 |
| Circulation mintage | 111,375,000 |
| 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 2012 Canadian pennies
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 Non-Magnetic Canadian Penny | 87,972,000 | Face value |
Frequently asked questions
When did Canada stop making pennies?
The last cent was struck in May 2012 and the Mint stopped distributing cents to banks on February 4, 2013. Cents dated 2012 are the final year and they remain legal tender.
Can you still spend Canadian pennies?
Yes. Cents are still legal tender, though businesses round cash totals to the nearest five cents. Financial institutions still accept them and the coins can be used in any cash payment.
Mintage figures: Penny (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.