Nickel (Canadian Coin)

Nickel (Canadian Coin)

The Canadian five-cent coin, commonly called a nickel, is a coin worth five cents or one-twentieth of a Canadian dollar. It was patterned on the corresponding coin in the neighbouring United States.

The denomination (i.e., the Canadian five-cent piece) had been introduced in 1858 as a small, thin sterling silver coin, that was colloquially known as a "fish scale," not a nickel. The larger base metal version made of nickel, and called a "nickel," was introduced as a Canadian coin in 1922, originally as 99.9% nickel metal. These coins were magnetic, due to the high nickel content. Versions during World War II were minted in copper-zinc, then chrome and nickel-plated steel, and finally returned again to nickel, at wars' end. A plated steel version was again made 1951–54 during the Korean War. Rising nickel prices eventually caused another switch to cupronickel in 1982 (an alloy similar to the U.S. nickel), but more recently, Canadian nickels are minted in nickel-plated steel, containing a small amount of copper.

From 1942 to 1963, Canadian five-cent coins were produced in a distinctive 12-sided shape, evocative of the British threepence coin. Originally this was done to distinguish the copper-colored tombac (copper-zinc alloy) coins, from pennies. However, the characteristic shape was retained for another nine years after 1944 when this coin was later produced in 99.9% nickel and chrome-plated steel.