Commems Collection Canadian: Nickel Dollar Commemorative Coins - Wrap Up

I thought I would add a few final comments regarding Canada's Nickel Dollar Commemorative Coins (1970-84).

Specifications for all coins in series:

Composition: 100% Nickel
Weight: 15.62 grams
Diameter: 32.13 millimeters
Edge: Reeded

A few interesting points arise when looking at the mintage figures for the series:

Circulation Mintage of Nickel Dollar Commemorative Coins


Cased Dollar Sales of Nickel Dollar Commemorative Coins


The series was reasonably popular among Canadians, with circulation demand for the commemorative coins often exceeding the typical annual demand for the regular-issue Voyageur dollar.

Just over 30 million (30.074) total commemorative dollars were struck for circulation vs. just 1.556 million individual dollar coins sold as "Collector Coins" in standalone cases. Cased "Collector Coin" sales amounted to just 5.17% of the circulation total. Considering the nature of the coins, I would have expected higher sales among the Cased Dollars.

(Note: For the sake of a consistent comparison, I did not add in the commemorative dollar coins included in the 1970, 1971 and 1973 Uncirculated, "Double Penny" or "Double Dollar Sets" as the 1974, 1982 and 1984 Sets did not include the commemorative nickel dollar.)

The 1982 Constitution Patriation dollar appears to have truly resonated with Canadians seeking a souvenir of the event. The 11.8 million circulation mintage for the coin represents nearly 40% of the total commemorative nickel dollar mintage of 30.074 million.

The sales pattern of the Cased Dollars differed significantly from the distribution pattern of the Circulation Issues (see charts). For example:

>>>> the 1982 Constitution Patriation and the 1984 Jacques Cartier Anniversary dollar coins were #1 and #2, respectively, among the circulation issues - they were #5 and #6, respectively, among sales totals for the Cased Dollars (i.e., lowest in sales).

>>>> The 1973 Prince Edward Island Centennial Cased Dollar was the #1 seller among the Cased Dollars; it was #5 (of 6) among the circulation coin counts.


Quick Index to each of the posts in this series:

- 1970 Manitoba Centennial
- 1971 British Columbia Centennial
- 1973 Prince Edward Island Centennial
- 1974 Winnipeg Centennial
- 1982 Canadian Constitution Patriation
- 1984 Jacques Cartier 450th Anniversary