Canadian Penny Value: Key Dates, the 1936 Dot and 2012 Cents

Most Canadian pennies are worth one cent to a few cents, as of October 2026. The exceptions are a short list of George V small cents from 1922 to 1926, led by the 1923 and 1925, which sell for roughly $30-45 in fine to very fine condition and into the thousands in top mint state. The famous 1936 dot cent is a different world: three are known, and one sold at Heritage for $402,500 in 2010.

Everything from George VI in 1937 to the last cent struck in 2012 was made by the hundreds of millions, so a jar of Canadian pennies is almost always a jar of pocket change. The value lives in the date, a few die varieties and the condition, and all three can be checked at a kitchen table with a magnifier.

Quick answer

• Circulated cents from 1937 to 2012, including 1969 and 2012: face value to a few cents each.
• 1923 and 1925 small cents: about $30-45 in fine to VF, and PCGS lists a 1925 at about $3,000 in MS65 red-brown.
• 1922, 1924 and 1926: smaller premiums, roughly $5-30 in circulated grades; sales vary by grade.
• 1936 cent with a raised dot under the date: three known, $402,500 at Heritage in 2010. Almost every "dot" offered is damage or a plain 1936.
• The famous 1969 large date is a 10 cent coin, not a penny.

How do you identify and value a Canadian penny, step by step?

Read the monarch, then the date, then check the few varieties that matter.

1. Check the size. Cents dated 1920 and earlier are large cents, 25.4 mm across, about the size of a US quarter. From 1920 the cent is the small 19.1 mm coin. Both sizes were struck in 1920, so a 1920 can be either.
2. Read the portrait. Victoria to 1901, Edward VII from 1902 to 1910, George V from 1911 to 1936, George VI from 1937 to 1952 and Elizabeth II from 1953 to 2012. Elizabeth appears in four portraits: the young bare-shouldered Gillick effigy from 1953, the Machin effigy with a tiara from 1965, the de Pedery-Hunt crowned effigy from 1990, and the Susanna Blunt uncrowned bust from 2003.
3. Read the date and sort. George V small cents dated 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925 and 1926 go in their own pile. So does any 1936. Everything from 1937 onward goes in the common pile unless it is one of the varieties below.
4. Look under the date on any 1936. The George V reverse has CANADA across the top, ONE CENT in the center between two maple leaves, and the date at the bottom. A genuine 1936 dot cent has a small, raised, round dot centered directly below the date. A scratch, a pit or a dent is not the dot.
5. Check the 1953 and 1955 shoulder. Early Elizabeth II cents were made with and without a fold of fabric on the Queen's shoulder. The 1955 with no shoulder fold is the scarce one. Look at the line across the shoulder with a 5x loupe.
6. Note the shape and metal. From 1982 to 1996 the cent is 12-sided. From 1997 it is round again and plated: copper-plated zinc first, then copper-plated steel, which sticks to a magnet. A magnet sorts a mixed lot of modern cents in seconds.
7. Judge the wear. On George V cents, look at the king's crown and the beard; on maple leaf cents, the veins of the leaves. Original red color on an uncirculated cent is worth far more than brown, and cleaning destroys it. Our coin grading scale explained guide shows what fine, VF and mint state mean.
8. Price from sold results for the same date and grade. Catalogue prices are often in Canadian dollars, so check the currency before comparing.

What are Canadian pennies worth?

Values as of October 2026, in US dollars. Guide values are labelled as such; sale prices are marked as sales. Where we could not confirm a figure, the range is hedged.

According to the Royal Canadian Mint figures collected on Wikipedia's page on the Canadian penny, the 1923 had a mintage of 1,019,002 and the 1925 of 1,000,622, against hundreds of millions a year from the 1960s onward. PCGS gives the 1925 as 1,000,652; the small difference is between sources, and either way it is the lowest mintage of the 1920s. PCGS calls the 1925 scarce in all grades and puts it at about $30 in F-12 and about $3,000 in MS65 red-brown in its price guide.

Why are most Canadian pennies worth only a cent?

Because there are billions of them. The Mint struck 911,001,000 cents in 1982 alone, and the 1969 mintage was 335,240,929. Pennies remain legal tender in Canada, but the Mint stopped distributing them on February 4, 2013, and cash totals are now rounded to the nearest five cents. A circulated cent from 1937 to 2012 is pocket change in Canada and a few cents to a collector anywhere else.

Which Canadian penny dates should you look for?

Five George V dates, one variety and one rarity, and nothing in the modern series for the 1969 date that people often ask about.

1922 to 1926. These were struck in the early 1920s, when demand for cents was low, and their mintages run from about 1.0 to 2.1 million. The 1925 and 1923 are the two keys; the 1922, 1924 and 1926 are better dates that carry smaller premiums.

The 1936 dot. When George V died in January 1936, the Mint did not have dies for the new king ready. Cents struck in 1937 with 1936 dies were marked with a small raised dot below the date. Mint records list 678,823 dot cents, but only three are known to survive, all specimens, and one sold at Heritage for $402,500 in January 2010. Every other "1936 dot" that turns up is a plain 1936 with a mark or a lump of metal near the date. A plain 1936 cent is worth only a little more than face.

The 1955 no shoulder fold. Early Elizabeth II dies were made with and without a fold of fabric on the shoulder. The 1955 without it is scarce, sometimes called the 1955 "no strap", and sells at a clear premium, more so in uncirculated grades. The 1953 also exists both ways; there, the no-fold version is the common one.

The 1969 large date. This is the coin people confuse most often. The 1969 large date variety that sells for thousands is the 10 cent piece, with clearly larger numerals than the normal 1969 dime. A 1969 cent has no such variety and is worth face. Our guide to old Canadian coins covers that dime and the silver dates.

2012, the last year. The final Canadian penny was struck in Winnipeg on May 4, 2012. People keep 2012 cents as souvenirs, which is exactly why a circulated 2012 is worth one cent. The special 2012 farewell sets issued by the Mint are packaged collector items and are priced as sets.

Copper, zinc or steel: does the metal matter?

Usually not for value, but it helps you sort and spot the odd piece.

Some years were struck in both zinc and steel, and a few early steel pieces marked with a small P on the obverse are scarcer than the regular coins. If you find a P-marked cent from the early 2000s, check the date against a current catalogue before you spend it. Otherwise, the metal of a modern cent does not change its value.

Say you find a 1925 cent in a jar

Say a coffee can from a grandparent's basement holds about 600 Canadian cents. You tip them onto a towel and pull out everything with a bearded king on it: about 40 George V cents. Most are 1920s and 1930s dates worth a few cents to a dollar. One reads 1925.

You look at the crown and beard: the beard lines are worn smooth on the high points, but the crown jewels still show, and the date and ONE CENT are full. That is roughly fine to very fine, in the same range as PCGS's F-12 guide value of about $30, and in line with dealer prices for a VF 1923. It is brown, not red, and has not been cleaned. A realistic sale price is about $30-45.

The rest of the can is pocket change, perhaps with a 1922 or 1926 worth a few dollars. The 1925 is the coin worth a holder and a dealer's look.

How to sell Canadian pennies

Almost every Canadian cent goes in a lot, and only a few dates are worth a listing of their own.

• Cents from 1937 to 2012, including the 12-sided ones and the 2012, are face value. Spend them in Canada or sell the whole jar as one bulk lot.
• George V small cents of common dates at 10 cents to a dollar, and worn large cents at $1-5, go as a date-sorted lot.
• The 1922, 1924 and 1926 at $5-30 circulated, and the 1923 and 1925 at $30-45 in fine to very fine, are worth single listings with the date and grade in the title. So is a 1955 without the shoulder fold.
• A 1923 or 1925 with red color or in mint state, and a 1955 no shoulder fold in uncirculated grades, should go to PCGS, NGC or ICCS first, then to a coin dealer who handles Canadian coins or an auction that handles Canadian coins. A possible 1936 dot goes to a grading service before anyone talks about money.

In the listing, state the date, the grade in the fine, VF and mint state terms dealers use, whether the coin is red or brown, and whether it has been cleaned. Photograph both sides, the date close up, and the shoulder on a 1953 or 1955. Mail coins in flips inside a padded mailer.

Do not call a 1969 or 2012 cent rare, and do not describe a mark under a 1936 date as the dot.

Common mistakes

• Treating a 1969 cent as the 1969 large date. The valuable 1969 variety is the dime.
• Seeing a dot on a 1936 cent. Damage near the date is common. The real dot cent is one of three known specimens.
• Pricing in the wrong currency. Canadian catalogues and dealers usually price in Canadian dollars, which are worth less than US dollars.
• Keeping every 12-sided cent. They are distinctive but struck by the hundreds of millions.
• Cleaning a 1920s cent to make it shine. The original surface is what buyers pay for; see should you clean old coins.
• Assuming a 2012 cent is rare because it was the last year. Hundreds of millions were saved.

How WorthPic reads Canadian penny photos

WorthPic runs on the newest and most capable AI model available, tuned for exactly this kind of identification. From a photo of the obverse it reads the monarch and portrait, which places the coin in its era, and from the reverse it reads the date, the design and the shape, including the 12-sided cents. It flags the dates that matter, such as 1922 to 1926 and any 1936, looks for the shoulder fold on 1953 and 1955 cents, and judges wear on the crown, beard and leaves. It then gives an honest US dollar value range with a most likely figure, says what drives the price and which extra photo would settle it. What it cannot know from a photo is whether a mark under a 1936 date is raised metal or damage, whether a coin has been cleaned in a way a photo hides, or whether a key date has been altered. It identifies and estimates. It does not authenticate, grade or appraise.

What to photograph

• Both sides straight on, in daylight, with the coin filling the frame.
• The date close up, sharp enough to read every digit, on any George V cent.
• The area under the date on any 1936 cent, lit from the side so a raised dot casts a shadow.
• The Queen's shoulder on any 1953 or 1955 cent.
• The edge or a size reference if you are not sure whether it is a large or small cent.
• A group photo of the George V cents if you have many, so they can be sorted by date.

When to get it looked at in person

A jar of 1937 to 2012 cents does not need an expert. Pull out the George V cents, sort them by date, and set aside any 1922 to 1926, any 1936 and any 1955 that may lack the shoulder fold. For a 1923 or 1925 in fine or better, or anything with red color, a coin dealer who handles Canadian coins can tell you within minutes what it is worth and whether it has been cleaned. For a high-grade key date or a suspected 1955 no shoulder fold, PCGS, NGC or ICCS in Canada can grade and attribute it, which is what buyers pay for. A possible 1936 dot goes to a grading service before anyone talks about money. The Royal Canadian Numismatic Association lists coin clubs and shows where you can get a second opinion at no charge, and the Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins is the reference most Canadian dealers price from. For the silver coins that may have come in the same jar, see our Canadian silver dollar value guide, and for US cents mixed in, what pennies are worth money. Our guide to what old coins are worth covers every US and Canadian series we track, and the silver and gold floors that set the lowest value.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Penny (Canadian coin): mintages for 1922 to 1926 and 1969, the 1936 dot cent survivors and the $402,500 Heritage sale, metal and weight by year, the last strike on May 4, 2012 and the end of distribution on February 4, 2013.
• PCGS: The scarce 1925 Canada cent: the 1925 mintage of 1,000,652 and guide values of about $30 in F-12, over $150 in MS60 to MS62 brown and about $3,000 in MS65 red-brown.
• Canadian Coin and Currency: 1923 cent ICCS VF-30: a dealer asking price for a 1923 cent graded ICCS VF-30, used as a cross-check on the VF range.
• Royal Canadian Numismatic Association: Canada's national collector organization, with clubs and shows.