The 1947 Canada 1-cent coin Varieties

In order to appreciate the story behind the 1947 1-cent varieties we need to take a closer look at the inscription on the obverse side of the coin, understand a little Latin, and know some British history. A closer look at the obverse side of the 1947 1-cent coin reveals the inscription, “GEORGIVS VI D:G:REX ET IND:IMP:", circling the bust of King George VI. This lettering is an abbreviation of the Latin words “GEORGIVS VI DEI GRATIA REX ET INDIAE IMPERATOR” translated to English means “GEORGE VI, KING AND EMPEROR OF INDIA BY THE GRACE OF GOD”.

The significance of this inscription is that Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India on April 28, 1876 and took on the title “Queen and Empress of India”. The subsequent British Kings retained the title of “King and Emperor of India”. When a British King-Emperor or reigning Queen-Empress signed their name for Indian business, they used the initials R I, for an abbreviation of the Latin “Rex/Regina Imperator/Imperatrix”, or translated into English “King/Queen Emperor/Empress”.

On August 15, 1947 India attained its freedom and became independent from British rule. With India’s independence, King George VI, was no longer the Emperor of India and all coining dies and tooling had to be modified for the 1948 coins to remove the “ET IND:IMP:” portion of the inscription on the coin. Traditionally, the use of the image of a former monarch or outdated titles could only continue until the end of that year.

The Royal Mint in London modified the matrices and punches for the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM); however, it took close to a year before the RCM received the updated dies and the 1948 coins with the changed inscriptions could be produced. In 1948, while the RCM waited, demand for new coinage rose so it was decided that the RCM would continue to produce 1947 coins, but using modified dies by adding a tiny maple leaf beside the year “1947” to indicate that the coins were actually produced in 1948. Once the modified dies and tooling arrived in 1948 the RCM ceased producing the maple leaf coins and commenced producing the normal 1948 coins with the shortened Latin inscription “GEORGIVS VI DEI GRATIA REX”, or in English “GEORGE VI KING BY THE GRACE OF GOD”.

In 1948, before the new 1948 1-cent coin dies arrived, the RCM modified the existing 1947 1-cent coin dies by adding a tiny maple leaf, and also created replacement dies with a tiny maple leaf since dies wear out and replacements are needed when producing coin runs. The original 1947 dies had a blunted seven on the top right of the number 7, the modified 1947 maple leaf dies also had a blunt seven, but the new replacement 1947 maple leaf dies that were created had both a blunt seven and a pointed seven variety. The blunt 7 variety of the 1947 maple leaf 1-cent coin is scarcer and therefore more valuable.  

Collectors quickly found the difference in the 7’s and a new variety was discovered. The end result was that the RCM produced three varieties of 1947 1-cent coins, a 1947 blunt 7, a 1947 maple leaf blunt 7, and a 1947 maple leaf pointed 7. These three varieties of 1-cent coins can also be found in the Specimen struck collector sets that the RCM produced, according to the Charlton Standard Canadian Coins Catalogue.

The Virtual Penny in the Digital World

The cent or "$0.01" in financial terms will continue to be used in all financial transactions no differently than before the government decided to eliminate the one cent coin from circulation. The thing that will change when business transactions are settled is the amount you will pay when using cash.

Retail, wholesale, and all other transactions will be valued no differently than they are now. Businesses will determine pricing the same way, and they will apply Sales Taxes the same way, and you would not pay a different amount if using a non-cash method of payment. 

For example, if you bought a jar of peanut butter from the corner store priced at $4.99, plus the sales tax of $0.65 (at 13%) for a total of $5.64. Before and after the elimination of the penny the Cash Register would say that you owe $5.64. If you paid by cheque, gift card or an electronic method of payment, the payment amount would remain at $5.64 no change. $5.64 is still the amount  that would come out of your bank account, be charged to your credit card statement or the amount your gift card would be reduced by. The only time the five cent rounding would come into play would be when you decide that you will pay with cash. 

For many of us that don't use cash all the time when making purchases, the elimination of the penny will be hardly noticeable at all. If you pay your utility bills, insurance or other bills electronically you will not even notice the penny is gone. What will have changed is that there will no longer be a "physical or tangible" one cent coin that you can hold in your hand, the one that used to fill your pockets, jars or piggy banks. But... the one cent denomination will live on in the digital world as a virtual denomination indefinitely. 

Retailers will have absolutely no incentive to use the elimination of the penny as an opportunity to increase prices because all their accounting systems, pricing lists, suppliers prices and other purchases will continue to be to the nearest cent for them as well. The thing that will change is when you pay cash the amount that you pay will just be rounded to the nearest five cents, so you will no longer have to carry pennies around. There will be no winners or losers when rounding as all the transactions will, on the whole average out so your purchases over time will cost the same.

Table 1 below for example shows 11 items run through a Cash Register for illustrative purposes. For the items highlighted in red you would pay one or two cents more when the Cash Register price ends with a 3, 4, 8 or 9, or for the items highlighted in green you would pay one or two cents less when the Cash Register price ends with a 1, 2, 6 or 7. Where the Cash Register price is already at either zero or five, there is no difference. It all averages out. For the 11 items in table 1 below the totals add to the exact same amounts, no difference.

Table 1 - Example Rounding to Nearest 5 Cents
Item #	Cash Register Price	Cash Tendered	Difference
1	$ 21.10	$ 21.10	$ 0.00
2	$ 21.11	$ 21.10	$(0.01)
3	$ 21.12	$ 21.10	$(0.02)
4	$ 21.13	$ 21.15	$ 0.02
5	$ 21.14	$ 21.15	$ 0.01
6	$ 21.15	$ 21.15	$ 0.00
7	$ 21.16	$ 21.15	$(0.01)
8	$ 21.17	$ 21.15	$(0.02)
9	$ 21.18	$ 21.20	$ 0.02
10	$ 21.19	$ 21.20	$ 0.01
11	$ 21.20	$ 21.20	$ 0.00
	$232.65	$232.65	$ 0.00

Don't get me wrong, I like collecting coins including one cent coins, but they are no longer economical nor cost effective to use in business transactions. The elimination of the penny is a welcome move for the economy, in addition, we all want to see the government use our tax dollars wisely, if they can save money eliminating the one cent coin, then they are putting our tax dollars to better use. Kudos to the government for doing this, it should have been done 20 years ago. It will only be a matter of time before our US neighbours to the south do the same thing. 

The One Cent Coin's Removal from Circulation

The one cent coin will start disappearing from circulation commencing February 4, 2013 when the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) stops distributing one cent coins to financial institutions and starts its large scale melting and recycling activities. However, the RCM could have some competition in this endeavor from individuals and possibly companies.

That being said, will it be legal for others to melt and recycle one cent coins? Subsection 11. (1) of the Currency Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-52) states that, " No person shall, except in accordance with a licence granted by the Minister, melt down, break up or use otherwise than as currency any coin that is current and legal tender in Canada.", the Currency Act (Act) goes on to state that anyone who contravenes this law will face a $250 fine and-or a maximum of one-year in jail. The general public for the most part is not familiar with the Act and may think it will become legal for them to melt and recycle one cent coins. Many people may be in for a surprise.

Two areas of the wording of this Subsection of the Act are worth exploring;

First “any coin that is current and legal tender” indicates that as long as the one cent is legal tender individuals will not be permitted to melt their one cent coins. In Chapter 5 of its Economic Action Plan 2012 the Government announced that it will eliminate one cent coins but the penny will retain its value (remain legal tender) indefinitely.

Secondly, "except in accordance with a licence granted by the minister" indicates that it is possible to get a licence to melt or do otherwise with coins. If individuals want to have their one cent coins melted down, they would either have to get a licence, which is unlikely, or bring them to a party who is licenced to do so. The Finance Minister has previously granted licences to metal recyclers and refineries to melt down silver coins; however, to date the Minister has not indicated whether or not any licences have been granted to melt one cent coins. However, that could change; on December 19, 2012 the government announced that a new analysis shows that the government would actually lose $38.3 million over the next six years redeeming 6 billion one cent coins. In my opinion, if the government thinks it could reduce its losses by allowing 3rd parties to melt and recycle one cent coins, the government should consider granting melt licences. It makes economic sense for them to do so.

Although it is not known if it will be legal for individuals to have their one cent coins melted and recycled for financial gain, many individuals have been storing them and await their extinction so they can cash in and start melting them.  Since the melt value of one cent coins is greater than their face value due to the base metal content which is predominantly copper for one cent coins to the end of 1996; there is incentive to melt and recycle one cent coins. Canadian one cent coins from 1920 to 1941 contain 95.5% copper and from 1943 to 1996 contain 98.0% copper.

The one cent coin melt value per coin for years from 1920 through to 1979 is about 2 1/2 cents per one cent coin, and for years from 1980 to 1996 is about 2 cents per one cent coin due to the high copper content. However, melt values for one cent copper plated zinc coins for years from 1997 to 2012 is only about 1/2 cent per one cent coin, and for one cent copper plated steel coins for years from 2000 to 2012 is even less at about 1/4 cent per one cent coin. So it would be financially beneficial to melt one cent coins up to 1996, but not so for one cent coins after 1996. The chart below, Appendix A - Canada One Cent Coin Melt Values, provides how the melt values have been determined.

Although there is a financial incentive to melt one cent coins, from a business perspective the effort to accumulate and sort them for melting generally outweighs the costs. It does for the government as was recently affirmed, and it’s doubtful that it would be cost justifiable for businesses to sort and accumulate one cent coins for melting. It may be that one cent coins will be accumulated for melt by individuals having the time to do so, or businesses that have come up with efficient and innovative ways to do so. Rest assured, there are many individuals that would be willing to do so if it was legal.

The high melt values will not help perpetuate the one cent coin as it’s phased out of circulation by the Canadian Government; however, as numismatists and hoarders collect and retain one cent coins in volume this will enable the continued collectability of small cents up to 2012 for many years to come. The same as what has happened with many coins of the past, like the large cent, silver circulation coinage, and the nickel fifty cent and one dollar coins. However, numismatists will continue to actively collect these coins and will indefinitely. Although, it’s unfortunate to see the elimination of Canada’s lowest denomination circulation coin, it doesn’t make economic sense for the government to continue to keep one cent coins in circulation. And yes, there will be other coins in the future that will be eliminated as well as their values become too small to make a difference when conducting business transactions. So the key for numismatists to keep coin collecting alive is to collect in bulk, as has been done in the past for other extinct coins. I for one have plenty of $25.00 boxes of rolls of one cent coins that I plan on retaining because I believe the numismatic value will far outweigh the melt value of the one cent coin, how about you?

Appendix A - Canada One Cent Coin Melt Values 1920 to 1941 Metal Composition Weight (g) Value * Composition: 95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc Copper 95.50% 3.09  $ 0.02420 Weight (g): 3.24 Zinc 1.50% 0.05  $ 0.00010 Diameter (mm): 19.05  Thickness (mm): 1.65 Tin 3.00% 0.10  $ 0.00004 Total 100.00% 3.24  $ 0.02434 1942 to 1977 Metal Composition Weight (g) Value * Composition: 98% copper, 0.5% tin, 1.5% zinc Copper 98.00% 3.18  $ 0.02483 Weight (g): 3.24 Zinc 1.50% 0.05  $ 0.00010 Diameter (mm): 19.05  Thickness (mm): 1.65 Tin 0.50% 0.02  $ 0.00001 100.00% 3.24  $ 0.02494 1978 to 1979 Metal Composition Weight (g) Value * Composition:  98% copper, 1.75% tin, 0.25% zinc Copper 98.00% 3.18  $ 0.02483 Weight (g): 3.24 Zinc 0.25% 0.01  $ 0.00002 Diameter (mm): 19.05  Thickness (mm): 1.52 Tin 1.75% 0.06  $ 0.00002 100.00% 3.24  $ 0.02488 1980 to 1981 Metal Composition Weight (g) Value * Composition:  98% copper, 1.75% tin, 0.25% zinc Copper 98.00% 2.74  $ 0.02146 Weight (g): 2.8 Zinc 0.25% 0.01  $ 0.00001 Diameter (mm): 19  Thickness (mm): 1.45 Tin 1.75% 0.05  $ 0.00002 100.00% 2.80  $ 0.02150 1982 to 1996 Metal Composition Weight (g) Value * Composition:  98% copper, 1.75% tin, 0.25% zinc Copper 98.00% 2.45  $ 0.01916 Weight (g): 2.5 Zinc 0.25% 0.01  $ 0.00001 Diameter (mm): 19.1  Thickness (mm): 1.45 Tin 1.75% 0.04  $ 0.00002 100.00% 2.50  $ 0.01919 1997 to present* Metal Composition Weight (g) Value * Composition: 98.4% zinc, 1.6% copper plating Copper 1.60% 0.04  $ 0.00028 Weight (g): 2.25 Zinc 98.40% 2.21  $ 0.00447 Diameter (mm): 19.05  Thickness (mm): 1.45 Tin 0.00% 0.00      $ 0.00000                    100.00% 2.25  $ 0.00475 2000 to date* Metal Composition Weight (g) Value * Composition: 94% steel, 1.5% nickel, 4.5% copper plating Copper 4.50% 0.11  $ 0.00083 Weight (g): 2.35 Nickel 1.50% 0.04  $ 0.00060 Diameter (mm): 19.05  Thickness (mm): 1.45 Steel 94.00% 2.21  $ 0.00097 100.00% 2.35  $ 0.00240 * - Base Metal Price Details $US Base Metal Prices on December 30, 2012 $US Per Pound $US Per Gram Copper  $ 3.56590  $ 0.00786 Zinc  $ 0.92030  $ 0.00203 Steel/Tin  $ 0.20000  $ 0.00044 Nickel  $ 7.75900  $ 0.01711 Exchange  $ 1.00513 Grams per Pound 453.59 $CAN Base Metal Prices on December 30, 2012 $CAN Per Pound $CAN Per Gram Copper  $ 3.54770  $ 0.00782 Zinc  $ 0.91560  $ 0.00202 Steel/Tin  $ 0.19898  $ 0.00044 Nickel  $ 7.71940  $ 0.01702