The Highly Collectible Canadian Nickel Dollars

PCGS - Canadian Dollars are large, highly collectible coins that have been popular with collectors since their regular-issue inception in 1935. They were struck in an 80% silver format through 1967, when rising bullion prices forced the Royal Canadian Mint to choose a less-expensive base-metal format for its dollar coinage. The replacement was a pure nickel composition that was used in Canada Dollars from 1968 through 1987; from 1987 on, the large-size dollar format was replaced by the smaller "Loonie" Dollar, a 26.72-millimeter nickel-bronze coin nicknamed for the placid design by Robert-Ralph Carmichael of a loon swimming in a serene pond.


1968 $1 Voyageur (Regular Strike) PCGS MS67

The pure nickel Canadian Dollars of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s represented a much larger shift for the Royal Canadian Mint, which faced the same economic constraints the United States Mint confronted south of the border. Rising bullion prices was squeezing silver from circulating coinage made from the white precious metal, and Canada subsequently phased the valuable bullion from its dimes, quarters, half dollars, and dollar coins.

One of the challenges that came with this compositional change arose from the physical resilience of nickel, which is a much harder metal than copper and silver. The pure nickel coinage that began rolling out of the Royal Canadian Mint in the late 1960s required changes to the physical dimensions of its coins, including the dollar coin. To compensate for the harder, pure nickel composition, the dollar's planchet size was reduced in diameter by 11% and in thickness by 8% to properly produce the design. This resulted in new physical specifications for the nickel dollar, which came in at 32.13 millimeters in diameter and weighing 15.62 grams - down from the previous 80% silver dollar's 36.06-millimeter width and weight of 23.33 grams.

One thing that did not change about the Canadian Dollar during its transition was the coin's obverse and reverse designs; the obverse of the nickel dollars kept the portrait of a 39-year-old Queen Elizabeth II as designed by Arnold Machin, while the iconic Voyageur reverse by Emanuel Hahn was continued but in reduced size. This design pairing was continued for the duration of the large-size Canadian Dollar series, with a few exceptions for the appearances of circulating commemorative designs.

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