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 Traditionally, the use of the image of a former monarch or outdated titles could only continue until the end of that year.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.