Old Country Coins: Newfoundland’s Rarest 5-Cent

As I hinted at in my letter above, I am close to a major life milestone that seemed like it was in another dimension when I first set out on the path toward it. By the time this issue is in member's hands, I will have applied to be a United States citizen and, while I love this country with all my heart, there are always parts of an immigrant which bring one back to where they once were in some form. Some still vote in their former nation’s elections via absentee ballot, others regularly visit and for me, I enjoy snapping up coins and this time, got one from The Rock.

I am not referring to the movie and television star who phones in his performances but instead, I write of the easternmost portion of Canada. Officially known as Newfoundland and Labrador, it is believed to have been first settled by human beings around 9,000 years ago. Leif Erickson arrived in 1001, Europeans permanently parked themselves in 1610, and, in 1865, with the British granting responsible government (meaning a degree of autonomy), decimalized coins came to the island which would not become a part of Canada until March 1949.

A brief Google search shows many coins from Newfoundland’s semi-independent era are readily available and most can be purchased for less than $100 in respectable condition. However, there are some rarities in the form of the gold $2 pieces, large cents, and the 5-cent pieces which began circulating back in 1865.

According to the now-out-of-print Library of Coins – British North America Vol. 68 type book from The Coin and Currency Institute, Inc., collectors looking for a complete set here would need the 1873-H 5-cent piece (Birmingham Mint, 40,000), the 1885 (London Mint, 16,000) and the 1946-C (Ottawa Mint, 2,041).

A mysterious item that is not supposed to exist. CoinsAndCanada.com

As noted above, Newfoundland became a part of Canada just a few years after the 1946-C came into existence. Looking at the numbers, one would think this was just a simple winding down of a period that lasted for a long while, but the 1947-C 5-cent piece has a mintage of over 30,000. Certainly, a mystery and especially puzzling when Dr. Harvey Richer’s 100 Greatest Canadian Coins and Tokens reports there are no mintage records confirming anything for 1946 at all.

So, what happened? Were mint employees messing around and making souvenirs before the end of an era? Was this piece of history now proudly certified and stored in my safe at home an accident or is there some other explanation out there just waiting to be discovered by some intrepid researcher or collector?

In short, who knows? For now, this piece of my past proves where I am from still has some pull and, though I once ran from it due to a turbulent childhood, now, I am not sure I want to. Now, I maybe even feel some sense of pride about it all.

Editor’s Note: If you are an immigrant and coin collector and want to write about a piece from where you were born and raised, please feel free to submit it. I would love to make this an annual feature for everyone to educate others with.

Have an interesting numismatic topic you’d like to share with your fellow NOW members?

Send your article to evan.pretzer@protonmail.com today!!!

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