Why are there not more uncirculated (still new) Canada pennies from the 1930's, 1940's, and 1950's?

Question

I understand that fewer Canada pennies were minted than USA Lincoln What Cents from the same time period, but there seems to be a shortage of uncirculated Canada Small Cents even for the Canadian penny collectors. By the 1850's coin collecting was a big business in the United States, so I figured it should have been a big business in Canada too by the early 1900's. There should be lots of uncirculated pennies from the 1930's, 1940's, and early 1950's, that coin dealers set aside for collectors, but there is not. Also, I have notice most complete collections of Canada Small Cents are circulated, which means Canada collectors were either not buying uncirculated coins and getting them out of circulation, or could not get them. Some years, such as 1949, uncirculated pennies are common, but many other are not. Just wondering why? Does anyone sell Canada coins or has some historical knowledge on this subject?

curtisports2 · Accepted Answer

In 1930, the population of Canada was just over 10 million. The population of the US was 121.1 million.  Canada produced 2.5 million cents in 1930.  That is one coin for every four citizens. The US produced 221 million. That was one coin for  every ONE citizen, with a 100 million surplus.

Canada never hit the 100 million mark for a single year until 1957. By the early 1940s, the US was making over a BILLION per year.

Another big reason is that in the 1920s, even into the 1950s, a penny still bought something. Especially during the Depression-era 1930s. Very few people were going to put a coin away in a drawer in either country, relative to the entire population. I'll bet a good number of the small number of collectors spent their collections on food and other necessities.

busterwasmycat · Answer

don't know the entire story, but I suspect that the population of Canada being about 10% of that of the US, and thus having that many fewer collectors and coins, would come into play.  I don't know that this difference accounts for what you observe, but I am sure that it is a major factor.

Why are there not more uncirculated (still new) Canada pennies from the 1930's, 1940's, and 1950's?

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