Oh yes, these beautiful coins are nicknamed, fish scales. Most likely due to their small size. Coming in at a whopping 15.5 mm in diameter and weighing 1.16 grams, its honestly amazing that these little beauties haven’t all been lost!!
The first year of issue was in 1858 with Queen Victoria on the obverse and did not have another issue until 1870, which it then ran until 1921. In 1922 the design was changed, the coin was made into what we all consider a “nickel” and the composition was changed from silver to nickel. The Fish Scales were made of .925 Silver and .075 copper until 1920 when the Royal Canadian Mint changed the alloy to 80% silver and 20% copper for the last two years of its run. According to the Charlton Standard Catologue of Canadian Coins, there are a plethora of varieties, just like the Large Cents. Make sure you familiarize yourself with these varieties when you are collecting. It could be the difference between a $20 coin and a $10,000 coin!
So why collect them? In my opinion I think they are a beautiful coin, of course, that is subjective to each collector, but on top of the design they are historical, silver, worth more than a nickel and numerous other reasons. If you are a bullion collector, these could be a nice addition to your stack. As a numismatist, they can be easily obtained for a small premium versus other coins. The average going rate for a fish scale in a F Grade according to http://www.coinsandcanada.com is anywhere from $18.30 CAN/$13.91 USD for a Queen Victoria and $5.40 CAN/$4.10 USD for a King Edward, as of Jan 13, 2019. There is always an option to go into specimen grades which can gt you spending in the tens of thousands of dollars. How you choose to work on a collection is 100% up to you and what you can afford.
The Canadian Coin Collective 