1961 Canada Elizabeth II, nickel 5 Cents

1961 Canada Elizabeth II, nickel 5 Cents : présentation (texte en anglais)

Its obverse carries the first portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, a youthful laureate effigy by sculptor Mary Gillick showing the young monarch with a wreath in her hair, together with the legend ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA. The reverse keeps the beloved beaver seated on a rock before a mountain stream, designed by George Edward Kruger Gray, a motif that had already become a national emblem on Canadian coinage. A distinctive feature is the 12-sided planchet, which helped users tell the coin apart from the cent by touch and gives the series a striking, instantly recognizable profile. Collectors value the type as a bridge between the austerity of steel and the modern round nickel coinage that followed, and they appreciate it for the crisp detail of the Gillick portrait, the subtle die varieties found across the series, and the challenge of finding examples with sharp beaver fur, a well-defined rock, and clean edges on the angled rim. Accessible yet historically rich, it remains a cornerstone of any collection of Canadian coinage from the reign of Elizabeth II.