1942 – 5 Cents Canada – Nickel

The 1942 Canadian 5-cent coin came in two main varieties due to wartime material restrictions: a nickel composition coin and a tombac (brass) composition coin. The nickel version, weighing 4.54 grams with a diameter of 21.21 mm and plain edge, was magnetic and had a mintage of about 6,847,544 coins. The obverse featured a bust of King George VI, designed by Thomas Humphrey Paget, while the reverse displayed a beaver on a log, designed by G. E. Kruger-Gray. The tombac variety was introduced to conserve nickel for the war effort; it was a 12-sided coin (dodecagonal), non-magnetic, weighing the same as the nickel but slightly larger in diameter (21.3 mm across opposite corners), with a mintage of about 3,396,234 coins. The 12-sided shape helped distinguish the tombac 5-cent piece from the bronze 1-cent coin, as the tombac’s color was similar to the penny. Both versions have the inscription “GEORGIVS VI D : G : REX ET IND : IMP :” on the obverse and read “5 CENTS CANADA 1942” on the reverse.