10 Cents - Elizabeth II 2nd portrait, Silver (.500), Ottawa mint

By 1968 Canada was in the middle of a forced transition away from silver coinage, driven by rising silver prices that made the metal's market value approach and then exceed face value. The .500 fine issues of 1968–69 were themselves a stopgap — the Royal Canadian Mint had already begun striking clad dimes at the Philadelphia Mint in 1968 before domestic nickel production could take over entirely. Ottawa's .500 silver run therefore overlaps with two other compositions in the same year, creating a three-variant problem that still trips up collectors sorting by weight alone.