Canadian silver dollar

The Canadian silver dollar is a one-dollar coin first issued for circulation by the Royal Canadian Mint in 1935 to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V. Prior to regular production, three trial pattern pieces—two struck in silver and one in lead—were produced by the Royal Mint in London in 1911. The circulating silver dollar continued as a regular business strike until 1967, after which circulating one-dollar coins were struck in nickel. Commemorative issues containing silver have since continued to be struck as non-circulating collector pieces.

The coin's standard reverse design, sculpted by Emanuel Hahn, features a voyageur and a person of Indigenous descent paddling a birch-bark canoe, with faint lines in the background representing the Northern Lights. This Voyageur design remained the standard motif on Canadian dollar coins until 1986, shortly before the introduction of the new one-dollar coin in 1987. On issues depicting King George VI, the obverse bears the royal effigy with the designer initials HP, for T. H. Paget, positioned underneath.

Several recognised varieties arose during the coin's production. The 1947 issues comprise ten distinct varieties split between the Pointed Seven, the Blunt Seven, and the Maple Leaf issue, the latter displaying a small maple leaf beside the date following a delay in updating the royal title inscription after Indian independence. Later issues from the 1950s include the Arnprior varieties, where die polishing caused the shallow water lines at the right of the canoe to partially vanish, leaving two and a half lines, as well as a deliberately modified 1952 reverse with an enlarged islet tip and no water lines.