Thread: Canada large cents: A quick look at collecting, eh

Oh Canada...
Due to my close proximity to Canada, penchant for Canadian beer, and therefore many nights spent in Canadian bars during my age of 18-21, I have had much interaction with Canadian money. It is very common to get it in change daily, here in Southeast MI. This is why I am somewhat of a Canadian collector. It started with modern circulation coins and mutated into some older stuff.

I recently revisited my Large Cent collection for imaging, and it made me remember why I liked this series so much. So I thought I would share my limited knowledge, some examples, and a few reasons they make a great series to collect.

You cant afford not to collect them

• It's an affordable and short series to collect. Aside from the key dates, nice grade circulated examples can be had for $5-$15 a piece.
• There are only a few key dates, the 1858 (first year), being one of them.
• Even the keys are affordable in most grades.
• There are quite a few varieties in the Victoria series if you are feeling squirrelly. (Some can be hard to find and get pricey. Over dates, double punches, etc..)

Specs for entire series:
Composition: Bronze:
Weight: 4.54 grams
Size: 25.5mm
Edge: Plain

There were 3 design changes for the Canadian large Cents.

1858-1901 - VICTORIA

Lowest minted:
1884 - 200,000

• Heritage Auction, Jan 2003: PCGS MS 64 RED: $506.00
  

Highest Minted:
1859 - 9,579,000

Rarest variety:
1875H Large date

• Heritage Auction, Jan 2003: PCGS MS 61: $2,070.00
• Ebay: April, 2012: ICCS G-4: $170.44

1902-1910 - Edward VII
Lowest minted:
1907 H - 800,000

• Heritage Auction, Sep 2011: PCGS MS 64RB: $431.25

Highest Minted:
1910 - 5,146,487








1911-1920 - George V

Lowest minted:
1914 - 3,405,958

Highest Minted:
1918 - 12,970,798






I am currently 4 coins short of the entire set, with many duplicates. The conditions are all across the board, but all circulated.

Here are some of my favorites.
Not because of grade, but because of the color.
I know some folks will them them ugly and scream 'damaged', but I just love em. They have so much character, and each one is unique.







Thanks for reading, you hosers. I always enjoy pushing my collecting preferences onto others.

-greg

Very Nice write up Greg.

I love Canadian Large Cents, and they tone so nicely. BTW I've also had some freaking awesome nights in Windsor. They know how to get down.

Originally Posted by Jim M

Very Nice write up Greg.

Thanks Jim! I am pretending to be working, so doing a writeup is a good front. makes me look busy.

Originally Posted by JCB1983

I love Canadian Large Cents, and they tone so nicely. BTW I've also had some freaking awesome nights in Windsor. They know how to get down.

Jason, i agree on both of your points.

Victoria Large Cents have been my passion for 40 years and I got into the 400-500 variety aspect of them for the last 20. Your write-up was nice, but your Vicky spec "summary" was taken from the 5 cent page, not the large cent page. Also, recent research has made the old 421,000 mintage figure for the 1858 to be grossly underestimated. There were certainly over a million of them struck. The brass 1859 remains the holy grail for collectors. I have over 5,000 Vicky Large Cents and boxed piles of Eds and Geos. Once you get into Large Cent varieties, you open up your collecting world to the equivalent of essentially new coin denominations .. say 4 cent or 7 cent pieces. BTW, I would highly suggest that Large Cent collectors pick up a copy of the 2011, 65th edition, of the annual Charlton coin guide. It has 80 of the most collectible/easily noticed varieties for the Victoria Cents out of the 100's to choose from. I was one of the co-authors of that section and it's a must-have for any large cent people. It was the first time that Bill Cross at Charlton allowed 3-4 collectors to actually prepare and choose content for the variety section, rather than someone in the publishing arm.

Originally Posted by Bill in Burl

but your Vicky spec "summary" was taken from the 5 cent page, not the large cent page.

Hi Bill, Which part did I get wrong on the Vickys? There isn't really a 'summary', just the mintages directly from Krausse. Let me know and I will edit it accordingly.

Under the Vicky section, the "lowest minted" and "rarest variety" are wrong. Those two that are listed are for 5 cent silvers, not the large cents. If you got it from Krause, then they are wrong as well. However, the 1859 is right (actually the figure is a little les, because there are more 1858's minted that all the books have wrong.... it's not 421,000 .. probably about a million or a little less more than that. By far, the scarcest and most expensive is the 1859 brass .. there should be auction records .. I think only 4-5 known and the best example is not much more than VG in collector's hands, but the mint in Ottawa has a relatively pristine example.

Originally Posted by Bill in Burl

Under the Vicky section, the "lowest minted" and "rarest variety" are wrong. Those two that are listed are for 5 cent silvers, not the large cents. If you got it from Krause, then they are wrong as well. However, the 1859 is right (actually the figure is a little les, because there are more 1858's minted that all the books have wrong.... it's not 421,000 .. probably about a million or a little less more than that. By far, the scarcest and most expensive is the 1859 brass .. there should be auction records .. I think only 4-5 known and the best example is not much more than VG in collector's hands, but the mint in Ottawa has a relatively pristine example.

Thanks for the info. Krause must be wrong.
So what is the lowest minted Vicky?
I will just change the 'rarest variety' to... 'rarest attainable variety' since I really don't think someone can jump into collecting Vickys and expect to get one.

Well, you can still put down the 1858, and most would agree. New books are being written with corrected figures. Then the 1890H, the 1894, 1898H and the 1900 all had 1 million minted. There are many varieties that are quite scarce and getting pricier every day. I would say that coin that a collector actually had a chance to find, in say EF-40 condition would be the 1884 Obv 1 ($659) or one of the special 1859 varieties (DP#1 $900 or TP#1 $1000). There are many 1859 varoetes that are well over $100, even in F-15 condition.

Hah, very cool. Did you finish the collection before putting it away? Any plans on going for some of the varieties?

I pick up circulated Canada large cents when the price is right and look for varieties (there are zillions!).
Have pulled large cents out of junk boxes that were in VF condition and have bought large lots of them off eBay for very little $ on a per coin basis.
Maybe I just have too much time on my hands!

Originally Posted by TheCoinGeezer

I pick up circulated Canada large cents when the price is right and look for varieties (there are zillions!).
Have pulled large cents out of junk boxes that were in VF condition and have bought large lots of them off eBay for very little $ on a per coin basis.
Maybe I just have too much time on my hands!

Well, I will admit to buying some lots off Ebay of some earlier Canadian as well. Just something about large cents that are appealing to collectors. My favorite, though, is still the silver 5 centers. For some reason I have simply accumulated a large number of AU/BU examples of these, (that is probably why I like them, lol).

Btw nice write up Greg, (and excellent help and commentary Bill). You can keep the beer though. To me, if you can see through a beer its not worth drinking.

Originally Posted by medoraman

My favorite, though, is still the silver 5 centers. For some reason I have simply accumulated a large number of AU/BU examples of these, (that is probably why I like them, lol).

Nice fishscales are still affordable, even Victoria ones.
Have a Guinness on me!

Originally Posted by medoraman

To me, if you can see through a beer its not worth drinking.

Lol Chris. You are much more refined than me when it comes to beer drinking I bet. I can see you sitting at the bar sipping your Guinness mud. I'm the guy in the back drinking straight from the pitcher of bud light with a straw.

Originally Posted by snaz

Hah, very cool. Did you finish the collection before putting it away? Any plans on going for some of the varieties?

Snaz, I have not finished. I can't remember the exact number, but it's about 6-10 I still need. All Victorias. I hope to circle back around someday to finish it. I will not get into varieties however. I don't have that kind of relationship with the Large cent right now.