[7] The 10,000,000 coins ordered easily exceeded the demand and wants of the public that year as the population in the Province of Canada at the time was not even 2,000,000 people.

[10] When mintage for pennies returned to London in 1891, the Canadian Bankers Association noted that some of those made that year were re-coined.

British medalist George William de Saulles was chosen for the job, and designed a right-facing bust of the King with the words "Edwardus VII Dei gratia Rex Imperator" and "Canada".

This portrait was used until Edward's death in 1910, and controversy arose the following year with a new design for George V. King George V's portrait was designed by Australian sculptor and medalist Bertram Mackennal with the words "Georgius V Rex et Ind:Imp:"; however, this was criticized by the public as the decision to omit "Dei gratia" (by the grace of God) was called "godless" and "graceless".

[13] On May 11, 1920 the Parliament of Canada issued a proclamation (effective May 15) about a "New Bronze Cent" which was to be 19.1 mm (3⁄4 in) wide with a weight of 50 grains (3.24 g).

As it was late in the year, the Royal Mint could not immediately make coins with a die depicting the new king with a 1937 date.

The king is shown on the obverse side facing left, with the inscription "Georgius VI D:G: Rex Et Ind:Imp:".

[18] The reverse was designed by George Kruger Gray and depicted a maple twig with two leaves; the wording "1 CENT" appears above them, and "CANADA" with the date is shown below.

[21] As the dies omitting the title were not immediately ready for use, a small maple leaf was added next to the 1947 dated coins on the reverse for pennies minted into 1948.

[16] King George VI died in 1952, and a new obverse effigy featuring Queen Elizabeth II appeared in the following year.

[25] The reason for this remains unclear as proposed theories include overly polished dies, or alternatively the relief of the effigy being too high to strike properly.

[26] High speed presses were installed at the mint in the early 1960s which meant that more Canadian pennies were being made at rates that exceeded 70% when compared to prior years.

[27] In 1964, Queen Elizabeth approved a second effigy of herself on Canadian coinage which was made by British artist and sculptor Arnold Machin.

[28] This second bust features the Queen facing right while wearing a tiara surrounded by Latin text where "Dei Gratia" is abbreviated again to read "D.G.

For the penny, artist Alex Colville designed a depiction of a rock dove in flight, with a dual date of "1867–1967".

[13][30][31] The reverse design reverted back to George Kruger Gray's maple leaf in 1968, and in 1978 slight changes were made to the composition and thickness which gave the pennies a "thin planchet".

[23] While the "P" mark below her bust was later dropped and replaced with the RCM logo in 2007, pennies continued to be minted using the two different compositions.

[37] Although several attempts were made to abolish the penny, these were met with resistance as they were considered a necessity to pay provincial sales taxes.

[37] Attitudes against the penny began to grow more in 2007 as the year marked the coin's centennial by the Ottawa Mint (now the RCM).

During this time, a survey was conducted by the Desjardins Group which mentioned that the government produced about 825 million pennies per year from 2001 to 2005.

[44] The Royal Canadian Mint was thus forced to produce large amounts of pennies as they disappeared from circulation due to hoarding or avoidance by the public.

[47] This widely publicized event included former Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, who ceremoniously "pushed a few buttons on the giant machine that pressed the final penny.

[54][47][55] Based on technical specifications provided by the Mint Act, only pennies produced from 1982 to their discontinuation in 2013 are still legally "circulation coins".

[58] Goods can still be priced in one-cent increments, with non-cash transactions like credit cards being paid to the exact cent.

[16] While the 1859 "Brass/Narrow 9" large cent variety is technically a pattern, some avid collectors place the coin in the business strike category.

[95][99][100] Canadian pennies in specimen sets date back to 1858, while proof and proof-like coinage are modern in comparison.