The Canadian fifty-cent coin () is a Canadian coin worth 50 cents. The coin's reverse depicts the

coat of arms of Canada The coat of arms of Canada, also known as the Royal Coat of Arms of Canada or, formally, as the Arms of His Majesty The King in Right of Canada is the arms of dominion of the Monarchy of Canada, Canadian monarch and, thus, also the official ...

. At the opening ceremonies for the Ottawa branch of the

Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's official maker of British coins. It is currently located in Llantrisant, Wales, where it moved in 1968. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly ow ...

, held on January 2, 1908, Governor General

Earl Grey Earl Grey is a title in the peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1806 for General Charles Grey, 1st Baron Grey. In 1801, he was given the title Baron Grey of Howick in the County of Northumberland, and in 1806 he was created Viscoun ...

struck the Dominion of Canada's first domestically produced coin. It was a silver fifty-cent coin bearing the effigy of

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

. Though it is regularly minted, it is not made in large quantities (approximate annual average production of 150,000), and since 2004 has only been available to the public directly from the mint. A largely unsuccessful attempt was made by the

Royal Canadian Mint The Royal Canadian Mint () is the mint of Canada and a Crown corporation, operating under an act of parliament referred to as the ''Royal Canadian Mint Act''. The shares of the mint are held in trust for the Crown in right of Canada. The mi ...

to promote the use of the coin when a special edition was released in 2002 marking the 50th anniversary of the accession of Elizabeth II to the throne. After this failed promotion, the mint stopped distributing 50-cent coins to banks and now sells them only in rolls or in coin sets available directly from their Numismatic Department at twice their face value, or $25 per roll of 25 coins.Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins, Volume One, 67th Edition, W.K. Cross, Editor, p. 194, , The Charlton Press, Toronto The mint's website lists the 2007 coat of arms 50-cent coin as "rarely seen yet replete with tradition".

History

During the early to mid-1920s, demand for 50-cent coins was minimal. Only 28,000 coins were issued between 1921 and 1929. When greater demand for the denomination arose in 1929, the Master of the Ottawa Mint decided to melt the stock of 1920 and 1921 coins. It amounted to a total of 480,392 coins. The decision was due to the belief that the public would suspect counterfeits if a large number of coins dated 1920 and 1921 were placed into circulation. It is believed that 75 or so of the 1921 coins have survived, mainly from sets that were sold at the time.

Composition and size

Circulation figures

Elizabeth II

Commemoratives

Collecting

Known as the "king of Canadian coins", the 1921 Canadian half-dollar is rare, with a high-grade example (PCGS MS-66) having sold for US$227,546 in a January 2010 Heritage Auction. The highest-graded specimen is graded by PCGS at MS-67 and was last sold (by Diverse Equitiesdiverseequities.com
/ref>) in the year 2000 to a private collector for the US$400,000.

Notes

References

{{Canadian currency and coinage 1870 establishments in Canada Coins of Canada Fifty-cent coins