Now everyone knows

The other day, a friend of mine needed to sell some Canadian Siver Dollars. It was easy to identify the general run of the coins, but there was a little wrench in the machinery. Dots.

Yup, large, small, and medium dots. By the time I got it all figured out, I am seeing dots.

Here is the answer. On the 1966 there are a couple of different versions; The bead around the edge of the coins come in three sizes, small, medium, and yup you guessed it, large. Seems the difference between the arge bead and small bead on the 1966 Canadian Silver Dollar is as follows:

The beads that are being refrerred to on this coin are the beads that circle the outside rim of the heads (obverse) side of the coin.

Small Beads Variety - On the right side of the queens face is the inscription D.G. Regina. If you take a close look at the periods after the D and the G of this inscription and compare their size to the size of the beads, the beads are noticeably smaller than the periods after the D and the G.

Large Bead Variety - In this variety, the beads surrounding the rim are at least the same size or larger than the periods after the D & G.

If you do have a small bead variety its extemely rare and is worth anywhere from $1300 to $7300 depending on the condition and strike.

You can see why I got very interested when I got four of these in very nice condition. See picture.

Anyway, it is just another reason for loving coins. I cannot believe all the varieties.

And to wrap this up, most of the coins are worth some amount over melt, but not much. Of course, if you find one which is in great shape, of course its value could rise. Consult the NGC World coin pricing for that answer, as it changes and has many answers depending on many factors.

NOTE: I did read one article which used the dot position over a letter, but I feel my answer is correct. It is the size of the dots, not the position.

Happy hunting

Capt. Brian

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