1963 Canada Elizabeth II, round 5 Cents

About the 1963 Canada Elizabeth II, round 5 Cents

The change simplified production at the Royal Canadian Mint in Ottawa and gave the coin a cleaner, more conventional appearance. Struck in nickel, a metal closely tied to Canadian identity through the country's vast deposits and its long standing role as a leading world producer, the type reflects national pride in a domestic resource. The obverse carries Mary Gillick's 1st portrait of Elizabeth II, a youthful laureate effigy of the young Queen with flowing hair, framed by the legend ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA. The reverse retains G.E. Kruger Gray's beloved beaver perched on a rock above water, a design that has come to symbolise Canada itself. As one of the final expressions of the Gillick effigy before the Queen's matured portrait was introduced, and as the first round format of the modern beaver design, this type serves as an important transitional link in any Canadian collection. Specialists value well struck examples that preserve fine detail in the beaver's fur and the Queen's hair, and the type is an accessible and historically meaningful addition for collectors assembling a complete record of Canadian coinage during the reign of Elizabeth II.