★Small silver fish-scale format

Silver Five Cents

Silver Five Cents covers 1858–1921 within the five cents denomination. Identify the value within crossed maple boughs reverse before applying the overlapping official technical standards or annual production rows.

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Scope is limited to the verified type or program level. Issue mintages, prices, varieties, and survival estimates are not inferred from this summary.

◆1Design generations

◆14Annual rows

◆2Technical standards

◆2Cited sources

Major five cents types

Know the boundary before the date

Begin with the Value within crossed maple boughs reverse, then confirm the Reigning monarch portrait obverse. Compare date, portrait, denomination, reeded edge, dimensions, weight, and metal response together. Wear, cleaning, plating disturbance, or environmental colour is not, by itself, evidence of a new type or variety.

• Primary identifiers — Reverse: Value within crossed maple boughs. Obverse: Reigning monarch portrait.
• Authority and dates — Province of Canada / Canada; recorded range 1858–1921.
• Evidence boundary — Unknown specifications remain unknown; unverified varieties, mintages, and prices stay outside the public catalog.

The historical scope of Silver Five Cents

The cited evidence records Province of Canada / Canada as the issuing authority and 1858–1921 as this type or program boundary. It belongs to the Five cents branch and is classified by authority, principal design, and documented physical generations. A narrower subtype should be added only when measurements, composition, or design evidence supports the split.

The catalog places this record in the Five cents branch, records its material scope as silver; fineness changed in 1920, and records its finish as circulation. Those fields are supported by the sources listed below; missing issue-level transitions are not filled by inference.

1. 1858 · Silver fish scale — The crossed-bough silver five-cent piece introduced the denomination.
2. 1908 · Ottawa production table begins — The Mint's published annual table begins with Ottawa production.
3. 1920 · Silver fineness changes — The official standard moved from sterling to 80% silver.

Design and identification

Begin with the Value within crossed maple boughs reverse, then confirm the Reigning monarch portrait obverse. Compare date, portrait, denomination, reeded edge, dimensions, weight, and metal response together. Wear, cleaning, plating disturbance, or environmental colour is not, by itself, evidence of a new type or variety.

• Silver Five Cents · 1858–1921 · Not established — Value within crossed maple boughs. Small silver fish-scale format.

Finish by checking the edge (reeded), composition (silver; fineness changed in 1920), and any recorded dimensions or weight; colour or wear alone is not enough for attribution.

Official annual production

This page filters the published 1908–1921 annual rows to the Silver Five Cents type boundary. Special reverses or parallel issues can be included in denomination-level annual totals; an unsplit total is not represented as design-only production.

Displayed-row sum: 64,580,058 · 14 official annual rows

Three anchors that do not depend on price

• Silver fish scale — The crossed-bough silver five-cent piece introduced the denomination.
• Ottawa production table begins — The Mint's published annual table begins with Ottawa production.
• Silver fineness changes — The official standard moved from sterling to 80% silver.

Specifications within this type

1908 – 1919 · Round

Composition

92.5% silver, 7.5% copper

Weight

1.167 g

Diameter

14.494 mm

Thickness

Not stated

1920 – 1921 · Round

Composition

80% silver, 20% copper

Weight

1.167 g

Diameter

14.494 mm

Thickness

Not stated

Official annual production catalog

This page filters the published 1908–1921 annual rows to the Silver Five Cents type boundary. Special reverses or parallel issues can be included in denomination-level annual totals; an unsplit total is not represented as design-only production.

Collecting paths and checklist

A useful first set represents the design and technical boundaries documented across 1858–1921; portrait, composition, or program generations can follow when their evidence is secure. Issue mintages, rarity labels, variety names, prices, and survivor estimates require separate verification and are not inferred from this type summary.

• One-coin type study — Choose one representative that clearly shows the principal obverse and reverse, then learn the type boundary.
• Design and technical generations — Add a generation only when sources confirm a change in composition, shape, size, edge, or principal design.
• Source-backed date study — Expand into dates or varieties only after issue identity, specifications, and production evidence are verified field by field.

Collector checklist

• Do not clean the coin; cleaning changes surfaces and can obscure evidence.
• Compare date, portrait, design, edge, weight, diameter, and metal response together.
• Have consequential or high-value attributions reviewed by an appropriate specialist or certification service.
• Catalog information is research context, not an appraisal, offer, or investment guarantee.

Data scope

This page publishes reviewed denomination- and major-type-level evidence. Years not published by the Mint remain unknown, zero appears only when the source reports zero, and prices or survivor estimates are not inferred from production.

Sources

1. 5 centsRoyal Canadian Mint

   Five-cent design and composition chronology, including Victory and nickel-discovery issues.

2. A History of the Canadian DollarBank of Canada

   Decimal adoption, 1858 coinage, 1870 Dominion coinage, provincial issues, Newfoundland, and mint history.