Coin Profile: 1921 Canadian 50-Cent Piece

Coins have been produced in the past and present for public circulation and to address the economic demands of a country. There are different denominations made to ensure trade and everyday transactions become easy. However, there are times when certain denominations are minted at a low quantity because of the rare need of these coins. One of the examples is the Canadian 50-Cent Piece.

How does one identify this coin?
The Canadian 50-Cent Coin features the Canadian Coat of Arms to commemorate the founding nations of Canada: England, Ireland, Scotland and France. There are inscriptions on the coin, one of which is "A Mari usque ad Mare" meaning "from sea to sea" and the other "Desiderantes meliorem patriam" translating to the texts, "They desire a better country".  The design used today is the same design used since 1959, and it was designed by Thomas Shingles. Shingles was a former Royal Canadian Mint engraver.

There were several reverse side designs used for the 50-cent piece since 1858.  The crossed maple boughs were the featured design in the 1858 to 1936 50-cent coins.  In 1937, the Coat of Arms were in the reverse side design, and it was used until 1958.  This Coat of Arms was in simplified form, and was used in an attempt to modernize the circulation coins of Canada.  In 1959 to the present year, the modified Coat of Arms was used as the main feature of the reverse side design. It is also worth noting that in the year 1967, the coin was redesigned to commemorate the centennial of the Canadian confederation, but in 1968, it returned to the Coat of Arms design.

Because of low production, these coins easily became rare and were valued at a higher amount than what they were made for.  One of the variety of the 50-cent coins that have gone extremely rare are those dated in 1921. This is because there was a move done to melt the stock of 1920 and 1921 coins. This event resulted to the scarcity of the 1921 50-cent coins, and only 75 of them are believed to be kept from the melting. In 2010, a Heritage Auction sold one of these coins for $227,546. This value only proves how rare these coins have become.

Rare coins are like needles in a haystack. This is why coin collectors scour these coins, because not only are they hard to find, their values are overwhelmingly high. Getting a hold of one of the few is a coin collector's achievement.

If you are looking for these coins, check out our collection at Colonial Acres. We have a variety of 50-cent coins ranging from 1870 up to the present. These coins will be a great addition to any collection, so check these little treasures.