50 cent piece (Canadian coin)
| Canada | |
| Value | 0.50 CAD |
|---|---|
| Mass | 6.9 g |
| Diameter | 27.13 mm |
| Thickness | 1.95 mm |
| Edge | milled |
| Composition | 93.15% steel, 4.75% Cu, 2.1% Ni plating |
| Years of minting | 1870–present |
| Catalogue number | – |
| Obverse | |
 |
|
| Design | Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada |
| Designer | Susanna Blunt |
| Design date | 2003 |
| Reverse | |
 |
|
| Design | Canadian coat of arms |
| Designer | Thomas Shingles |
| Design date | 1959, updated 1997 |
The fifty-cent piece is the common name of the Canadian coin worth 50 cents. The coin's reverse depicts the coat of arms of Canada. At the opening ceremonies for the Ottawa branch of the Royal Mint, held on January 2, 1908, Governor General Earl Grey struck the Dominion of Canada’s first domestically produced coin. It was a silver fifty-cent piece bearing the effigy of King Edward VII.
Though it is regularly minted, it is not made in large quantities (approximate annual average production of 150,000), and since 2004 has only been available to the public directly from the mint. It is very rare to encounter this denomination in everyday transactions, since there seems to be the mistaken belief among many Canadians that the coin itself is rare and thus of value in excess of 50 cents. Most times, when a 50-cent piece is exchanged in a transaction, it is saved by its recipient. People quite commonly, upon being presented with 50-cent pieces, question the legality of the coin, because of the non-circulating status of the denomination. The coin occupies a similar status to that of the United States half-dollar coin. Newer vending machines do not generally accept it, even when they accept coins of both higher and lower value, but many older machines that were retooled to accept loonies will misidentify a 50-cent piece as a loonie, thus allowing the value of the coin to be doubled. A largely unsuccessful attempt was made by the Royal Canadian Mint to promote the use of the coin when a special edition was released in 2002 marking the 50th anniversary of the accession of Elizabeth II to the throne. After this failed promotion, the mint stopped distributing 50 cent pieces to banks, and now only sells them in rolls or in coin sets available directly from their Numismatic Department.
The mint's website lists the 2007 coat of arms 50¢ piece as "rarely seen yet replete with tradition".
During the early to mid-1920s, demand for 50-cent pieces was minimal. Only 28,000 pieces were issued between 1921 and 1929. When greater demand for the denomination arose in 1929, the Master of the Ottawa Mint decided to melt the stock of 1920 and 1921 coins. It amounted to a total of 480,392 coins. The decision was due to the belief that the public would suspect counterfeits if a large number of coins dated 1920 and 1921 were placed into circulation. It is believed that 75 or so of the 1921 coins have survived, mainly from sets that were sold at the time. Long known as the "King of Canadian Coins", this piece brings a price commensurate with its rarity and reputation, with a high grade example (PCGS MS-66) having sold for US$227,546 (this price includes buyers premium but not the taxes) in a January 2010 Heritage Auction. The highest graded specimen is graded by PCGS at MS-67 and sold (by Diverse Equities) in the year 2000 to a private collector for the then sum of US$400,000. Today this coin would most likely bring US$1 million at an auction.
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Wikipedia