1921 Canadian 5 cent nickel coin is authorized
Yes, the Canadian five-cent coin’s conception became official on Feb. 14, 1921. A year later, the first actual Canadian nickel, patterned on its American counterpart and minted in Ottawa, entered circulation.
Canada had a five-cent coin before 1922, of course, but it wasn’t called a nickel. A five-cent piece had been introduced in Canada in 1858. That version was a small, thin coin, made of 92.5 per cent sterling silver. It was approximately 15 millimetres in diameter — half the size of the silver 10-cent coin in circulation at the time — and weighed 1.167 grams. Thanks to its size and colour, some people called it a “fish scale.”
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