At the time of Confederation in 1867, the new Government Of Canada inherited the outstanding
cents produced in 1858-1859. It was decided to issue them as Dominion cents and it took nearly ten
years to use up the stock. Thus, the first cents struck for the Dominion came out in 1876. The
reverse was the same as the 1858-1859 pennies, but the obverse used a diademed head adapted from
that used for the Jamaica halfpenny. The government also increased the weight to 1/80th of an
avoirdupois pound, the same as the British halfpenny.