Canadian One Dollar Reverse Designs and Coin Specifications
Reverse Designs
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This page shows the major die designs since Canadian one dollar coins were introduced in 1935. It does NOT cover "die blunders", where dies were re-punched
with different years (and the previous number is visible below the current number), or where cracks appeared in the dies causing unwanted lines
to appear in the coin. It also does not cover date doubling. This page only discusses silver or nickel one dollar coins issued for circulation. It does not include coins which were created exclusively for the collector market. The "loonie" will be covered on a separate page. NOTE: Click on any photo to load a much larger version of the same photo |
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The Voyageur This design by Emanuel Hahn features a voyageur and an aboriginal travelling by canoe. The front-most bundle depicted on the coin bears the initials "H.B." for Hudson's Bay Company. The illustration has been modified only slightly over the years. |
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The Royal Visit This design by Emanuel Hahn commemorates the visit of His Majesty King George VI and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth to Ottawa. The Latin phrase "Fide Quorum Regnat" means "He reigns by the faith of his people." |
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Newfoundland's accession to Canada Thomas Shingles' design commemorates Newfoundland's incorporation as a province of Canada. Pictured on the coin is The Matthew, the ship historians believe John Cabot was sailing when he discovered Newfoundland. Below the ship reads the Latin inscription "Floreat Terra Nova," meaning: "May the New Found Land Flourish." |
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The founding of British Columbia Stephen Trenka's totem pole and Rocky Mountain backdrop marks the centenary of both the Gold Rush and the creation of British Columbia as a colony of England. |
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The Confederation meetings Thomas Shingles' design features the French fleur-de-lis, the Irish shamrock, the Scottish thistle, and the English rose. It commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Charlottetown and Quebec City meetings that led to Confederation. |
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Designed by Alex Coleville. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Confederation, Alex Colville created a special set of designs for all coin denominations. The one dollar coin features a Canada Goose in flight. At some point in the production process either the reverse die or the obverse die was accidentally rotated in the press, resulting in a "diving goose" variant. This is only determined by viewing the obverse of the coin, rotating it so the obverse is perfectly straight, then flipping the coin over. After 1967, circulation 1-dollar coins were made of nickel until 1987, when the 'loonie' was introduced. |
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The Voyageur This design by Emanuel Hahn features a voyageur and an aboriginal travelling by canoe. The front-most bundle depicted on the coin bears the initials "H.B." for Hudson's Bay Company. The decision was made in 1968 to end the use of silver alloys in favour of pure nickel. To make the new nickel coins easier to strike, the 1 dollar coins were reduced in diameter (from 36.00mm to 32.13mm). |
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Manitoba's centennial Raymond Taylor's prairie crocus design commemorates the centennial of Manitoba's accession to Canada. |
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British Columbia's centennial Thomas Shingles' design commemorates the centennial of British Columbia's accession to Canada. The coin features British Columbia's coat of arms and its provincial flower, the dogwood. |
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Prince Edward Island's centennial Walter Ott's rendering of P.E.I.'s Provincial Legislature building commemorates the centennial of the province's accession to Canada. |
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Winnipeg's centennial Patrick Brindley created this design from a drawing by Paul Pederson to commemorate Winnipeg's centennial anniversary. Inside the two zeroes of '"00" are images of Winnipeg's Main street in 1874 (left) and 1974 (right). |
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A major change was made to the reverse design in 1977 by Emanuel Hahn and Terry Smith. The voyageur image was reduced in size,
the lettering was smaller and much further from the rim. Also, the rim denticles were replaced by beads. The aurora in the background
was rendered as raised lines intead of being incused.
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A major change was made to the reverse design in 1978 by Emanuel Hahn. The design was for the most part reverted back to the design used in 1975 and 1976.
The main exception to the 1975 design was the fact that the aurora was rendered as raised lines (like the 1977 issue) instead of being incused. The rim beads from the 1977 design were replaced by denticles similar to the 1968 issue. |
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The Constitution commemorative coin This design by Ago Ararand and the RCM staff features the famous painting of the Fathers of Confederation along with the inscriptions "Confederation 1867" and "Constitution 1982." |
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Jacques Cartier on the Gaspe Hector Greville's design of Jacques Cartier and a cross with the French coat of arms commemorates the 450th anniversary of the explorer's landing on the Gaspe Peninsula. |
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