SPECIFICATIONS
Composition: Silver
Fineness: 0.9250
Weight: 1.1300g
ASW: 0.0336oz
Diameter: 15.5mm
Obverse: King's bust left
Obverse Designer: E. B. MacKennal
Reverse: Denomination and date within wreath, crown above
Reverse Designer: Leonard C. Wyon
Ruler: George V
The Canadian Five cent coin, commonly called a nickel, is a coin worth five cents or one-twentieth of a Canadian dollar.
The denomination (i.e., the Canadian five cent piece) had been introduced in 1858 as a small, thin sterling silver coin, that was colloquially known as a "fish scale", not a nickel. The larger base metal version made of nickel, and called a "nickel", was introduced as a Canadian coin in 1922, originally as a 99.9% nickel metal. These coins were magnetic, due to the high nickel content. Versions during World War II were minted in copper-zinc, then chrome and nickel-plated steel, and finally returned again to nickel, at the end of the war.