1944 Newfoundland 10 Cents

944 Newfoundland 10 Cents - Varieties

The 1944 coinage is perhaps the most interesting of the entire George VI series. It was during this time that the Mint changed the Newfoundland coin content from sterling silver (or 92.5% silver) to 80%, with the balance made up of copper. By doing this, the Newfoundland coinage was brought into line with the Canadian coins, which also had the same metal content. Officially, the new silver content was ready for the 1945 coinage, but there are some collectors who believe that part of the 1944 coinage was also minted using the new, Canadian (80%) formula!

Previously, under the section on Newfoundland 5 Cent coins, it was mentioned that Jerry Himelfarb had written an article that was published in Canadian Coin News, about the inconsistencies of the official mintage numbers. He researched the production reports and concluded that the numbers for this date, were inaccurate! Without going into the details of his research, he concluded that the actual mintage number for the Newfoundland 10 Cent coins should have read: 56,177 instead of 151,471, which was officially reported by the Mint! (The paper written by Jerry Himelfarb on this subject is very interesting and it would be worthwhile checking CCN's website under: "In Previous Issues", where you can find the complete article.)

At the moment, there are three very distinct varieties for the 1944 Ten Cent coins. The main feature which distinguishes these, is the positioning of the "44" above the Ornamental Loop. However, there are some other subtle differences which might also help to determine to which group a specific coin belongs. Two of these varieties have Re-punched numerals, and another characteristic is the relative positioning of the two "4's", with respect to each other. In this instance, one of these varieties has its "4's" punched evenly, whereas, the others have them slightly staggered.