This 1980 nickel dollar is a coin Canadians actually carried in their pockets, even though a one-dollar note still circulated alongside it. The difference in lifespan, 9 to 12 months for the note against more than 20 years for the coin, would soon decide the paper dollar’s fate.

The reverse shows Emanuel Hahn’s classic Voyageur: a voyageur and an Indigenous guide paddle a canoe loaded with furs past an islet with two pines, while bands of northern lights shimmer above. The scene is a romantic vision of early Canada in the fur trade era, a land of untamed frontier. The obverse carries Arnold Machin’s portrait of Elizabeth II.

The design first appeared in 1935; since 1968 the dollar has been struck in nickel. A total of 2,544,000 coins were issued in 1980.

The coin fills the 1980 slot in a date run of voyageurs, which gave way to the «loonie» in 1987.

The VF-AU grade covers the range from VF, where the high points of the relief show noticeable wear but all main details and legends remain sharp, to AU, with only slight rubbing on the highest points and most of the lustre still present.

If you collect coins by country or by theme, take a look at the VPcoins catalogue: it is a convenient place to find the neighbouring pieces of a series.