Victoria reign and portrait era
Victoria Twenty Cents (1858 and 1871)
This page applies the requested 1858 and 1871 Victoria browse lens to the reviewed twenty cents design, technical-standard, and annual-production evidence.
Scope is limited to the verified type or program level. Issue mintages, prices, varieties, and survival estimates are not inferred from this summary.
Twenty cents reign and portrait eras
Know the boundary before the date
Begin with the recorded obverse (Victoria effigy (Leonard Charles Wyon portrait)) and reverse (20 CENTS and 1858 within crowned maple boughs). Then compare date, denomination, portrait, edge, diameter, weight, composition, and finish; a colour change or worn detail alone is not a reliable attribution.
- Primary identifiers — Reverse: 20 CENTS and 1858 within crowned maple boughs. Obverse: Victoria effigy (Leonard Charles Wyon portrait).
- Authority and dates — Province of Canada / Newfoundland; recorded range 1858 and 1871.
- Evidence boundary — Unknown specifications remain unknown; unverified varieties, mintages, and prices stay outside the public catalog.
The historical scope of Victoria Twenty Cents (1858 and 1871)
The cited sources place this category under Province of Canada / Newfoundland and within the chronology shown here. This requested browse lens crosses issuing authorities: the 1858 Province of Canada piece and the 1871 Newfoundland issue must not be treated as one federal series. Where a label crosses designs, authorities, metals, or portrait transitions, the page keeps those distinctions visible instead of merging them into one invented type.
The catalog places this record in the Twenty cents branch, records its material scope as 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper, and records its finish as circulation. Those fields are supported by the sources listed below; missing issue-level transitions are not filled by inference.
- 1858 · Royal Mint production — The one-year twenty-cent circulation issue was struck in London.
Design and identification
Begin with the recorded obverse (Victoria effigy (Leonard Charles Wyon portrait)) and reverse (20 CENTS and 1858 within crowned maple boughs). Then compare date, denomination, portrait, edge, diameter, weight, composition, and finish; a colour change or worn detail alone is not a reliable attribution.
- Province of Canada Twenty Cents · 1858 · Leonard Charles Wyon — Victoria portrait with a crowned maple wreath around the denomination and date.
Finish by checking the edge (reeded), composition (92.5% silver, 7.5% copper), and any recorded dimensions or weight; colour or wear alone is not enough for attribution.
Cited annual production
Annual rows are denomination totals filtered to this requested era. They may combine portraits, commemorative reverses, or parallel formats and are not presented as portrait-only production. This requested browse lens crosses issuing authorities: the 1858 Province of Canada piece and the 1871 Newfoundland issue must not be treated as one federal series.
Displayed-row sum: 730,392 · 1 cited annual row
Three anchors that do not depend on price
- 1858 and 1871 — The verified range assigned to Victoria Twenty Cents (1858 and 1871) in this catalog.
- 20 CENTS and 1858 within crowned maple boughs — The principal reverse is the first type-level attribution check.
- 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper — Compare it with the reeded edge and any recorded measurements.
Specifications within this type
1858 · Round
- Composition
- 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper
- Weight
- 4.65 g
- Diameter
- 23.3 mm
- Thickness
- Not stated
Cited annual production record
Annual rows are denomination totals filtered to this requested era. They may combine portraits, commemorative reverses, or parallel formats and are not presented as portrait-only production. This requested browse lens crosses issuing authorities: the 1858 Province of Canada piece and the 1871 Newfoundland issue must not be treated as one federal series.
| Year | Design context | Technical standard | Mintage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1858 | Province of Canada twenty cents | 23.3 mm · 4.65 g | 730,392 |
Collecting paths and checklist
Use the page first as a type or era checklist, then verify each dated issue independently before extending the set. Cleaned surfaces, plated-metal disturbance, patterns, special finishes, and commemorative reverses require separate treatment; catalog context is not an appraisal or investment promise.
- 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 evidence. The 730,392 quantity is reported with a pre-1911 estimate warning, zero is never inferred, and prices or survivor estimates are not derived from production.
Sources
- A History of the Canadian DollarBank of Canada
Decimal adoption, 1858 coinage, 1870 Dominion coinage, provincial issues, Newfoundland, and mint history.
- Canada, Victoria, 20 Cents, 1858Bank of Canada Museum
Identity, date, authority, mint, and the separate 4.62 g, 23 mm, plain-edge specifications of a museum object explicitly catalogued as a pattern; these measurements are not assigned to the circulation type.
- 20 cents: circulating Canadian coin mintagesCoins and Canada
The reported 730,392 circulation mintage for 1858 and the warning that pre-1911 quantities are often estimates; the linked issue record supports the sterling-silver, 4.65 g, 23.3 mm, reeded-edge circulation standard.
- Transactions of the Canadian Numismatic Research Society, New Series, Vol. 4Canadian Numismatic Research Society
Specialist context for the 1858–1859 Province of Canada decimal introduction.
- Faces of the MonarchRoyal Canadian Mint
Canadian coin obverse portrait chronology through Charles III.
- Welcoming Newfoundland to CanadaBank of Canada Museum
Newfoundland's decimal denominations, gold two-dollar coinage, production chronology, and relationship to the other provincial issues.