While Working On My Canadian Coins......................

[Nighthawk]

I took the day off work today to relax and catch up on some of my coins. I had decided that I would cut up and put into individual holders about 15 Canadian Mint sets that I had purchased from a dealer at a local show for LESS than face value a few months back. That's a lot of coins to work with!   

[Nighthawk]

When I began laying out the sets on the table, I noticed that I had bought 2 sets dated 1982!! What the heck was I thinking!! Well, when I got to the 50 cent pieces, I noticed that there are 2 varieties for that year. On the obverse of the coin, there is a Small Bead variety (120 beads) and a Large Bead variety (118 beads). The Small Bead variety is the scarcer of the 2 varieties and therefore it commands a much higher price than the Large Bead variety. But how was I going to count those beads? I tried to count them using a magnifying glass & a toothpick, but I was getting nowhere fast!! So I decided to lay them on my scanner, increase the size of the scan by 250%, and hit the button. It worked great!! 2 nice, large photos of the 2 coins side by side!! So I took a pen and crossed out each bead as I counted. The end result was the Small Bead variety (120 beads) on BOTH coins!!! But just to make sure, I made another copy of the photo & counted them again, and was excited to find that they are indeed the Small Bead variety!! So I have decided that I MUST send these in to get them graded for a proper grade, because the higher the grade the more my coins will be worth!! What a find!!        

[Goose]

Quite an Easter gift concerning the small beaded variety.....that's great! Also, did you get any 1978 sets? If you did, check the 50 cent piece.....square or round jewels on the lower section of the crown on the reverse. (Round is better)

[Triggersmob]

Nice find, John.
I was thinking of breaking up some of my sets and now I think I will for sure.
I only have a 1965 Canada set, is there anything I should check that for?

[Goose]

There were 2 varieties for the 1965 set, both with small beads on the DOLLAR only, not the half. The variety is the pointed and blunted '5' of the date. There were 2.9 million of the 1965 sets minted, and the value for the 2 varieties (the 5's) is the same. I'll try to send you a picture of the explanations.

[Triggersmob]

Thanks Cy, I received the info.
Mine is a blunt 5.

Here is the info, in case anyone needs it in future.

[Nighthawk]

Hey Cy, I did get a '78 mint set also, and it had the Square Jewels variety. Thanks for the info!!      Steve, is that all you have is a 1965 Canadian mint set? Do you have any others? I only ask because there are other years that have varieties on different coins as well.   

[Templar]

WELL "OH CANADA"   IT SEEMS SOMEONE HAS HIT IT BIG WITH CANADIAN COINS----I HAVE THE LARGE AND SMALL COPPERS FROM CANADA AND SOME OTHER COINS BUT NOT SETS---I WILL HAVE TO LOOK MORE CLOSELY AT MY COINS---THANKS MY FRIENDS AY!

[Triggersmob]

Steve, is that all you have is a 1965 Canadian mint set? Do you have any others? I only ask because there are other years that have varieties on different coins as well.   

That is the only set I have (had, now broken up), but I do have other Canadian coins. 

[Goose]

As for varieties, Canada has a lot of them in most denominations except collectors' coins.
Canada has 7 common coins circulating now....1c, 5c, 10c, 25c, 50c, $1, and the $2. The 1c is barely in circulation and will be totally eliminated as the government and people is/are collecting them from circulation due to the last minting of their cent was in 2012.
But in collectors' coins, they have 19:
1c, 3c, 5c, 10c, 25c, 50c, $1, $2, $5, $8, $10, $15, gold > $20, $100, $150, $175, $200, $300, and $350.