Canadian Silver Dollar Value: What Is Yours Worth?

A Canadian dollar dated 1935 to 1967 is 80 percent silver and holds 0.60 troy ounces of pure silver, so with silver assumed at $40 per troy ounce it contains approximately $24 of metal. Most of these coins, including the famous Voyageur canoe dollars and the 1967 Centennial goose, sell for their silver plus a small premium, about $25-35 in circulated condition. A handful of dates are worth far more: the 1948 is the key of the series and sells for well over $1,000 even when worn, and the 1945, 1946, 1947 and 1938 bring hundreds or close to it. From 1968 the circulating dollar was pure nickel, smaller and lighter, and is worth about face value unless it is a variety or in exceptional condition.

Quick answer

• Every Canadian dollar dated 1935-1967 is 80 percent silver, worth about $24 in metal at $40 silver.
• The 1948 is the key date, worth roughly $900-1,500 worn and more uncirculated.
• Dollars from 1968 to 1986 are nickel and worth $1-3 unless uncirculated or a variety.

How to check yours, step by step

A scale reading to 0.1 gram, a magnet and a 5x loupe settle almost every Canadian dollar in a few minutes.

1. Read the date on the reverse. On Canadian dollars the date sits on the reverse, below the canoe or the main design, not next to the portrait. Anything dated 1935 to 1967 is silver. Anything dated 1968 or later in a circulating design is nickel or, from 1987, the bronze-colored loonie.
2. Hold a magnet to it. Pure nickel is magnetic, so the 1968-1986 nickel dollars jump to a strong magnet. A silver dollar does not react at all. This is the quickest way to sort a jar of Voyageurs.
3. Weigh it. A silver dollar from 1935-1967 weighs 23.33 grams and measures 36 mm across. The nickel dollar of 1968-1986 weighs about 15.6 grams and is 32 mm wide. Collector silver dollars from 1971 onward also weigh about 23.3 grams but are marked as commemoratives and have a different design.
4. Identify the monarch on the obverse. George V appears on 1935 and 1936 coins, George VI from 1937 to 1952, and Elizabeth II from 1953. The portrait tells you the era at a glance, and it matters for the 1953 portrait varieties.
5. Look at the canoe and the water. On a Voyageur dollar, the reverse shows a voyageur and an Indigenous paddler in a canoe with an island behind them. Use the loupe to count the water lines to the right of the canoe on 1950s dates, which is how the Arnprior varieties are told apart.
6. Check the 7 on a 1947. The 1947 dollar comes as a pointed 7, a blunt 7 and a "maple leaf" variety with a tiny leaf after the date. Look at the foot of the 7 and at the space right of the date.
7. Judge wear last. On the reverse, look at the paddlers' heads and shoulders and the edges of the canoe. On the obverse, look at the hair above the ear and the crown or wreath detail. Note any cleaning, scratches, rim knocks or mounting marks.

Silver content and melt value

The silver content is fixed by the coin. The value moves with the silver price. These figures assume silver at $40 per troy ounce. To recalculate, multiply the pure silver content by the spot price on the day.

Scaling is simple. At $30 silver, a 1935-1967 dollar holds about $18 of metal; at $50 it holds $30. A dealer buying a common worn date will usually pay close to that number, and a collector will pay a few dollars more for a coin with clean, original surfaces.

For comparison with the US, a Morgan or Peace dollar holds 0.7734 oz of silver, more than a Canadian dollar, which is why the Canadian coins sell for less at the same silver price. The Morgan silver dollar guide covers the US side.

What each date is worth

These are approximate retail ranges for undamaged coins with no problems. A dealer will pay less, usually 60-80 percent of these figures for collector coins and close to melt for common dates.

Coins from the prooflike sets sold by the Royal Canadian Mint from 1954 to 1967 come in a flat cellophane pack or a case. In that packaging they are worth a little more than loose common dates. Out of the packaging, they are hard to tell from ordinary uncirculated coins.

The Voyageur design

Emanuel Hahn's Voyageur design ran from 1935 to 1986, through three monarchs and two metals. It shows a voyageur, one of the fur trade canoemen, and an Indigenous paddler in a birch-bark canoe loaded with bundles, with an island, trees and the northern lights behind them. Because the design stayed the same for half a century, the date and the magnet are the only fast ways to tell a valuable silver coin from a nickel one.

Why the 1948 is the key

In 1947 India became independent, and King George VI gave up the title Emperor of India, abbreviated ET IND IMP on the coins. The new dies for Canada were late, so the Royal Canadian Mint struck very few coins dated 1948 before the new legend arrived. The dollar mintage was only about 18,780. Every circulated 1948 dollar is a scarce coin, and it is the one date to set aside before anything else. A genuine 1948 has the shortened legend around the portrait, with no ET IND IMP, like the 1949-1952 coins. A 1948 date next to the older legend is a warning sign of an altered date.

The Arnprior varieties

In 1955 a firm in Arnprior, Ontario, ordered 2,000 dollars, and the coins they received showed only one and a half water lines to the right of the canoe instead of three. The name "Arnprior" stuck and now covers similar short water line varieties of 1950, 1951 and 1955. The 1955 is the best known and the most valuable. The difference is small, worn coins lose water line detail, and a coin with weak lines from wear is not an Arnprior. Look at an uncirculated example online before deciding.

Commemorative dollars

Canada used the dollar for commemorations long before modern collector coins. The 1935 Silver Jubilee, the 1939 Royal Visit, 1949 Newfoundland, the 1958 British Columbia totem, the 1964 Confederation meeting and the 1967 Centennial goose all circulated in silver and are worth roughly their silver plus a little, apart from the 1935 which carries a modest premium.

From 1971 to 1991 the mint issued a separate silver collector dollar every year, 50 percent silver, sold in cases, while the circulating dollar stayed nickel. Those sell for about $15-25 each. Nickel commemoratives such as the 1973 RCMP and the 1982 Constitution are worth $1-3. From 1992 the collector dollars are sterling silver and worth about their silver plus a small premium, more in proof with original packaging.

Silver dollars in a mixed lot

Canadian dollars often turn up with Canadian dimes, quarters and halves. All of those are also 80 percent silver through 1966, and 1967 and part of 1968 are mixed, so the same magnet and date checks apply. The foreign coins guide lists the silver dates for other countries.

Common mistakes

• Assuming every Voyageur is silver. The same canoe design was used on nickel dollars until 1986. The date and a magnet tell them apart.
• Expecting a big premium on the 1967 goose. It is a beautiful coin and it is silver, but millions were struck. Expect about melt plus a few dollars.
• Calling any worn 1950s dollar an Arnprior. Worn water lines are wear, not a variety. The variety shows on coins with clear detail.
• Cleaning a coin. Polishing removes the original surface and cuts the premium on any key date by a third or more.
• Missing a 1948 in a roll. Read every date in a lot of George VI dollars. The key looks like every other Voyageur.
• Treating collector silver dollars from 1971-1991 as 80 percent. They are 50 percent silver and hold about 0.375 oz.

What to photograph

Daylight from a window and the phone held flat above the coin give the best result. Turn off the flash, because silver reflects it.

• The reverse straight on, with the date and the canoe sharp.
• The obverse straight on, so the monarch and the legend can be read.
• A close-up of the date for 1945-1948 coins and of the 7 on a 1947.
• A close-up of the water lines to the right of the canoe on 1950-1955 coins.
• The edge, which shows reeding and any signs of a mount or solder.
• The coin on a scale, if you have one, with the reading visible.

When to get it looked at in person

Most Canadian silver dollars do not need anything more than a scale and a dealer's quote against the silver price.

• A local coin dealer can sort a group of dollars in minutes and buys common dates near melt. Ask for a separate price on any 1938, 1945, 1946, 1947 or 1948, and on any coin that looks uncirculated.
• PCGS, NGC or ICCS (the main Canadian grading service) charge from about $20-60 per coin and up, plus shipping and fees. Grading makes sense for a 1948, a 1945, an uncirculated 1946 or 1947, and a suspected 1955 Arnprior, because buyers pay more for a coin in a recognized holder.
• Auction houses that specialize in Canadian coins suit high-grade key dates and full collections.

For a full estate with mixed countries, the inherited coins guide gives the order to sort in, and the silver testing guide covers suspect pieces.