Obverse. Big portrait. Photo © NumisCorner.com
  • 5 Cents 1965-1981, KM# 60, Canada, Elizabeth II, Big portrait
  • 5 Cents 1965-1981, KM# 60, Canada, Elizabeth II
  • 5 Cents 1965-1981, KM# 60, Canada, Elizabeth II, Small portrait
  • 5 Cents 1965-1981, KM# 60, Canada, Elizabeth II, 1965 Obverse Varieties
Description

The beaver has a long history in Canada as both commodity and cultural icon. The Hurons honoured the beaver hundreds of years ago as the totem of their tribe. Native peoples used the beaver emblem to sign treaties with the first colonists. Since then the beaver has appeared in the heraldic bearings of Québec City and Montreal and even marked Canada's first postage stamp. The beaver coin design was created by Canadian artist G.E. Kruger Gray and was first used in 1937.

In 1979 the obverse design was modified to use a smaller portrait of the Queen. The reason was to make the portrait more proportional to the coin for every denomination.

Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 1926–2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and of 14 other Commonwealth realms. Her reign of 70 years and seven months, which began on 6 February 1952, was the longest of any British monarch in history.

When her father died in February 1952, Elizabeth—then 25 years old—became queen regnant of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), as well as Head of the Commonwealth. Elizabeth reigned as a constitutional monarch through major political changes such as the Troubles in Northern Ireland, devolution in the United Kingdom, the decolonisation of Africa, and the United Kingdom's accession to the European Communities and withdrawal from the European Union. The number of her realms varied over time as territories have gained independence and some realms have become republics.

Times of personal significance have included the births and marriages of her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, her coronation in 1953 and the celebrations of her Silver, Golden, Diamond, and Platinum jubilees in 1977, 2002, 2012, and 2022, respectively.

Obverse

Second crowned portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II facing right, wearing the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara.

The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara was a wedding present in 1947 from her grandmother, Queen Mary, who received it as a gift from the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland in 1893 on the occasion of her marriage to the Duke of York, later George V. Made by E. Wolfe & Co., it was purchased from Garrard & Co. by a committee organised by Lady Eve Greville. In 1914, Mary adapted the tiara to take 13 diamonds in place of the large oriental pearls surmounting the tiara. At first, Elizabeth wore the tiara without its base and pearls but the base was reattached in 1969. The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara is one of Elizabeth's most recognisable pieces of jewellery due to its widespread use on British banknotes and coinage.

ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA means Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, Queen.

Engraver: Arnold Machin

ELIZABETH II D · G · REGINA

Reverse

Depicts a beaver (left) on a rock in a river, over the country name and date, facial value above, flanked on both sides by a maple leaf.

The beaver (genus Castor) is a large, primarily nocturnal, semiaquatic rodent. Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges (homes). Their colonies create one or more dams to provide still, deep water to protect against predators, and to float food and building material.

Engraver: George Edward Kruger Gray

5 CENTS
K·G
CANADA
1968

Edge

5 Cents

2nd portrait
KM# 60 Schön# 60
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Characteristics
Material Nickel
Weight 4.54 g
Diameter 21.21 mm
Thickness 1.7 mm
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Alt # KM# 60.1, KM# 60.2
Mint
Royal Canadian Mint (RCM)

Related coins

Silver, 1.167 g, ⌀ 15.494 mm

Silver, 1.167 g, ⌀ 15.494 mm

Silver, 1.167 g, ⌀ 15.494 mm