1996 Loonie From A Mint Roll That Is Not Plated

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Author	Replies: 9 / Views: 1,018
ezryder New Member Canada 7 Posts	Posted 01/06/2026 11:47 am Back in 1996 or perhaps early 1997 I opened a sealed mint roll and found this coin somewhere near the middle of the roll. It was the only one in that roll, the rest were all plated. I have weighed the coin with my cheapo kitchen scale and it is 7 grams and it also appears to be very close to the nominal thickness, I'm sure it would fall within the planchet thickness tolerance zone. I assume the mint would have color sensing in their process to prevent this from getting out into circulation, making this quite a rare find in the wild. I guess my main questions are, how rare is this, what would it's value be and would it be of any value sending this coin to be graded and verified? Report this Post to the Staff

jbuck Moderator United States 187582 Posts	Posted 01/06/2026 11:49 am to the Community! Coin Collector Since 1978 Avatar Old Avatar 7070 Eisenhower Australia Canada World CCF Members on eBay CCF eBay Search Engine Report this Post to the Staff
JimmyD Bedrock of the Community Canada 21584 Posts	Posted 01/06/2026 1:23 pm To the CCF 1996 Loonies are not plated, they are made from a nickel bronze alloy. It wasn't until 2012 that they were brass plated on a steel core. An accurate weight to two decimal points would help as kitchen scales are useless. It is possible it was struck on a wrong planchet. Edited by JimmyD 01/06/2026 1:46 pm Report this Post to the Staff
ezryder New Member Canada 7 Posts	Posted 01/06/2026 2:13 pm Thankyou for the reply about 1996 loonies not being plated, but I have read from other sources that they were, so I'm unsure of what to believe. Below is a C+P from what an Ai search found. Composition of the 1996 Canadian Loonie All authoritative sources agree on the same structure: Metal Composition Core: 91.5% nickel Plating: 8.5% bronze (aureate bronze) This is a thin bronze layer applied over the nickel core Report this Post to the Staff
DBM Pillar of the Community Canada 9862 Posts	Posted 01/06/2026 2:44 pm Nice find ezryder! AI is correct for a change. They are plated. "Dipping" is not considered cleaning... -from PCGS website Report this Post to the Staff
john100 Pillar of the Community Canada 5324 Posts	Posted 01/06/2026 5:48 pm Looks like a loonie struck on an unplated planchet, an XRF will confirm. Do not see too often, worth grading, Off metal strikes are rarely seen after about 2010 so one would guess the RCM did not have the laser tech untill around 2010 Report this Post to the Staff
Errers and Varietys Bedrock of the Community United States 73628 Posts	Posted 01/06/2026 11:24 pm To CCF! Nice find! Errers and Varietys. Report this Post to the Staff
ezryder New Member Canada 7 Posts	Posted 01/11/2026 6:53 pm I finally have a scale that's accurate to 2 decimal points and my unplated loonie is only 6.07 grams. I'm not sure if the stated 8.5% bronze plated is by volume or weight, but if it's calculated by weight the weight should nominally be 6.4 grams when unplated. I have researched possible foreign planchets that the mint could have been using in 1996, and I find no close matches to that size and weight. This coin is also magnetic. I have not been able accurately measure this coin thickness yet but comparing it to a plated loonie it looks very close to the identical thickness. It is fully formed and has no LOF on the OD. Report this Post to the Staff
Dearborn Moderator United States 94728 Posts	Posted 01/16/2026 9:56 pm to CCF. Collecting since 1972. Learning from then on "Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." - Benjamin Franklin 7070 type set coin count: 51/76 Uncirculated American Silver Eagles My American Silver Eagle Proof Collection Sacagawea Dollars Innovation Dollars Eisenhower-Dollars Kennedy-Half Dollars Washington-Quarters Roosevelt-Dimes Buffalo-Nickels 1938-2005 Jefferson-Nickels Lincoln-Cents Report this Post to the Staff
ezryder New Member Canada 7 Posts	Posted 01/18/2026 09:05 am Here's some better photographs I took after taking it out of the mylar flip to weigh it. The weight was 6.07 grams and it is magnetic. I can only assume it's 100% nickel, the 1996 planchet's base material. Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 9 / Views: 1,018

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