Quarter (Canadian coin)


The quarter, short for quarter dollar, is a Canadian coin worth 25 cents or one-fourth of a Canadian dollar. It is a small, circular coin of silver colour. According to the Royal Canadian Mint, the official name for the coin is the 25-cent piece, but in practice, it is usually called a "quarter", much like its American counterpart. In Canadian French, it is called a caribou. The coin is produced at the mint's facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

History

Early coinage (1870–1910)

The first coinage minted for what would later become the Canadian Confederation originated in legislation enacted in 1853. Per the Act 16 Vict. c. 158, the Province of Canada was to issue "dollars, cents, and mills" that would co-circulate with English shillings and pence. While bronze and silver coins were initially struck at the Royal Mint in 1858, these only included currency up to twenty-cents. When the first coinage for the Dominion of Canada was struck in 1870, only silver coins were issued, which included a twenty-five cent piece in substitution for the twenty-cent coin. This denomination change brought the new monetary system, which was based on the United States gold dollar concurrently with the British sovereign, into conformity with the United States quarter. In a related event, the Canadian government also issued twenty-five cent notes to provide the country with fractional currency. By doing so, this relieved the "strain consequent" upon the removal from circulation of United States silver.
Canadian quarters initially weighed and were roughly in diameter with a plain edge. The obverse featured a portrait of Queen Victoria wearing a tiara, while the reverse had the denomination and date under a crown within a wreath. Public opinion of this new coin was positive as the American Journal of Numismatics and Bulletin of American Numismatic and Archæological Societies noted that the quarter was considered "more convenient than the old twenty cent piece". In 1871, two varieties of quarters co-circulated: those without a mintmark were made by the Royal Mint, while "H" marked coins were made in Birmingham, England, by Ralph Heaton & Sons. Heaton & Sons continued to mint only "H" marked quarters for 1872. No quarters were struck by the Royal Mint or Heaton for Canada in 1873 as there was an increased demand for "Imperial coinage". Heaton continued to mint quarters for Canada afterward from 1874 to 1883. There was a four-year hiatus during this period as the coins were transitioned from a plan to a milled edge.
Enlargements to the facilities at the Royal Mint were completed in 1883, which meant they could handle Canadian coin production. Quarters that date from 1884 to 1889 were all struck at the Royal Mint in London before Heaton was called for again. The Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Montreal commented in their entry for 1890 that this choice indicated that there was a rush of business at the Royal Mint that year. Coinage returned to the Royal Mint in 1891 and Canadian quarters were struck there through the remainder of Queen Victoria's reign. When Edward VII ascended to the throne in 1901, a new obverse portrait for the quarter was used. British medalist George William de Saulles designed a right-facing bust of the king surrounded by the words "Edwardus VII Dei gratia Rex Imperator". Canadian quarters continued to be struck in England until 1907 with the opening of the Ottawa Mint. When Edward VII died in 1910, a controversy arose in the following year with a new portrait design for George V.

Georgian coinage (1911–1952)

King George V's portrait was designed by Australian sculptor and medalist Bertram Mackennal with the words "Georgius V Rex et "; however, this was criticized by the public as the decision to omit "Dei gratia" was called "godless" and "graceless". As a result, the words Dei were added into the design the following year. On May 11, 1920, a new coinage act was put into place that affected the amount of silver in the quarter. While the previous "British standard" fineness of.925 silver was reduced to.800, the weight and diameter of the quarter remained the same. This act was put into place as the price of silver had risen due to the aftermath of World War I. No quarters were minted between 1921 and 1927 as the rising price of silver made them unprofitable. When quarter production resumed in 1927, the Royal Canadian Mint initially planned to strike commemorative coins to celebrate Canada's 60th anniversary. Although a winning design was chosen for the quarter, it was never used as the plan was scrapped.
No more proposed changes to the quarter were made during the remaining years of King George V's reign. When he died in January 1936, his son Edward VIII assumed the throne but soon abdicated in December 1936. After his brother George VI assumed the throne on December 11, 1936, a new effigy was needed for Canadian coinage. 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. It was instead decided by the mint to continue minting 1936 dated quarters with a dot added below the date on the reverse which signified that they were made in 1937. The new effigy of George VI was designed by Humphrey Paget and was ready for use later in the year. The king is shown on the obverse side facing left, with the inscription "Georgius VI ". During this time, new reverse designs were also planned for circulating denominations below fifty cents. Initial proposals included a caribou design for the five-cent coin, a beaver design for the ten-cent coin, and the Bluenose for the twenty-five-cent coin. After some debate, the head of a caribou was designed by Canadian sculptor Emanuel Hahn for the quarter.
India's declaration of independence in 1947 affected the quarter, as the words had to be removed from the obverse of the coin. This change was made under article 7.2 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom's Indian Independence Act 1947. 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 quarters minted into 1948. King George VI died in 1952 and a new obverse effigy featuring Queen Elizabeth II appeared in the following year.

Elizabeth II (1953–1989)

The first effigy of Queen Elizabeth II was designed by sculptor and medalist Mary Gillick, who chose to depict the queen at 27 years old facing right. As with the previous monarchs, her effigy is surrounded with Latin text which reads "Elizabeth II Dei Gratia Regina". For Canadian coinage, this marked the first time that master dies were made at the Royal Canadian Mint. During production, the diameter of the quarter was increased from. For reasons unknown, these were also struck in two major varieties, "with a shoulder fold" and "without a shoulder fold" on the new effigy. While quarters dated 1954 have a low mintage, an increased demand for small change boosted production by 50% in the following year. In 1964, Queen Elizabeth approved a second effigy of herself on Canadian coinage which was made by British artist and sculptor Arnold Machin. 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."
When silver prices rose sharply in the mid-1960s, the Canadian government initially set 1966 as a proposed transition year for an alternative alloy for coinage. This proposed year in actuality is when a government committee was formed on the matter and nickel was chosen to replace silver. Two major events regarding the Canadian quarter occurred in 1967. During this year Canada celebrated its centennial with special circulating commemoratives. According to James A. Haxby of the Royal Canadian Mint, a prowling bobcat was chosen for the centennial quarter to express "intelligent independence and decisive action". At the same time, the silver content was lowered from 80% to 50% by a proclamation which was authorized on August 17, 1967. This mid-year change meant that two varieties were produced that differ in their silver content. A similar event occurred in 1968 as the quarter was transitioned from 50% silver to pure nickel.
The caribou design continued to be used until 1973 when the quarter got a special commemorative design which honored the centennial of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. During this time, Queen Elizabeth's obverse bust was modified to be slightly smaller. These changes took full effect when the caribou design was restored to the reverse in the following year. Halfway through the decade, in April 1975, Canadian quarters were produced at the newly constructed mint facility in Winnipeg. Although nickel was by then dominant, silver quarters of both amounts continued to circulate until at least 1979. It was estimated by the mid-1980s that it cost the mint five cents to produce a nickel-alloyed quarter.

Elizabeth II / Charles III (1990–present)

In 1990, a third effigy of the Queen was used for Canadian quarters, designed by Hungarian-Canadian sculptor Dora de Pedery-Hunt. This third design depicts Elizabeth II when she was 64 years old surrounded by the previously used Latin script. The lowest mintage of any circulated quarter post–World War II occurred in 1991 as the Royal Canadian Mint prepared resources for the following year. For this event, Canada celebrated its 125th anniversary in 1992 by minting twelve circulating commemorative quarters. The caribou design returned for quarters minted from 1993 to 1996 until production ceased in the following year. Quarter production resumed in 1999 with the millennium series, which included a circulating commemorative quarter for every month until December 2000.
The Royal Canadian Mint also concurrently minted quarters with the caribou design in two different compositions. As nickel prices were steadily rising during this time, experimental steel-plated test coins were sent to vending companies. These coins were marked with a "P" below Elizabeth's obverse bust for identification purposes. When the Royal Candian Mint discovered that their experimental coins had somehow made their way into circulation, they issued 20,000 sets of "1999 P" coins for collectors. The last quarters made of pure nickel were minted for 2001 before nickel-plated steel production became permanent.
Elizabeth II was honoured on the quarter in 2002 as the coins carried a dual date of "1952–2002", for her Golden Jubilee. Two effigies of the Queen were used in the following year which include Hunt's "old effigy", and a fourth and final effigy made by portrait artist Susanna Blunt. This final depiction of the Queen shows a right-facing uncrowned bust with the same previously used Latin script.
Circulating commemorative quarters for various events were produced off and on again from 2005 to 2012 alongside those with the caribou design. Those dated after 2006 feature the RCM logo which replaced the "P" mark below the Queen's bust. After Elizabeth II died in 2022, an effigy of her son Charles III was designed by Canadian artist Steven Rosati. This current bust was introduced in 2023 and features the King facing left surrounded by the Latin script: "Charles III D.G. Rex".

Circulation figures

Victoria & Edward VII

YearMintage
1870900,000
1871400,000
1871 H748,000
1872 H2,240,000
1874 H1,600,000
1875 H1,000,000
1880 H400,000
1881 H820,000
1882 H600,000
1883 H960,000
1885192,000
1886540,000
1887100,000
1888400,000
188966,324
1890 H200,000
1891120,000
1892510,000
1893100,000
1894220,000
1899415,580
19001,320,000
1901 Victoria640,000
1902 Edward VII464,000
1902 H800,000
1903846,150
1904400,000
1905800,000
19061,237,843
19072,088,000
1908495,016
19091,335,929
19103,577,569

George V & George VI

YearMintage
1911 – No "Dei Gratia Rex"1,721,341
1912 – With "Dei "2,544,199
19132,213,595
19141,215,397
1915242,382
19161,462,566
19173,365,644
19184,175,649
19195,852,262
19201,975,278
1921597,337
1927468,096
19282,114,178
19292,690,562
1930968,748
1931537,815
1932537,994
1933421,282
1934384,350
1935537,772
1936 George V972,094
1936 George V 153,322
1937 George VI2,689,813
19383,149,245
19393,532,495
19409,583,650
19416,654,672
19426,935,871
194313,559,575
19447,216,237
19455,296,495
19462,210,810
19471,524,554
1947 ML4,393,938
19482,564,424
19497,988,630
19509,673,335
19518,290,710
19528,859,642

Elizabeth II

YearMintageNotes
1953 No strap10,546,769These varieties are also referred to as "with shoulder fold" and "without shoulder fold".
1953 Strap10,546,769These varieties are also referred to as "with shoulder fold" and "without shoulder fold".
19542,318,891
19559,552,505
195611,269,353
195712,770,190
19589,336,910
195913,503,461
196022,835,327
196118,164,368
196229,559,266
196321,180,652
196436,479,3431st obverse portrait
196544,708,8692nd obverse portrait
196625,626,315
1967 80% silver48,855,500These quarters feature a Canadian Lynx on the reverse, and are dated 1867–1967 to reflect the Canadian Centennial. The mintage figure includes both 80% and 50% silver coins.
1967 50% silver48,855,500These quarters feature a Canadian Lynx on the reverse, and are dated 1867–1967 to reflect the Canadian Centennial. The mintage figure includes both 80% and 50% silver coins.
1968 50% silver71,464,000
1968 nickel88,686,931
1969133,037,929
197010,302,010
197148,170,428
197243,743,387
1973 Large bust134,958,587Quarters dated 1973 have "large" and "small" bust varieties of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse while the reverse depicts a mounted RCMP officer.
1973 Small bust134,958,587Quarters dated 1973 have "large" and "small" bust varieties of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse while the reverse depicts a mounted RCMP officer.
1974192,360,598
1975141,148,000
197686,898,261
197799,634,555
1978176,475,408
1979131,042,905
198076,178,000
1981131,580,272
1982171,926,000
198313,162,000
1984121,668,000
1985158,734,000
1986132,220,000
198753,408,000
198880,368,473
1989119,796,3072nd obverse portrait
199031,258,0003rd obverse portrait
1991459,000Production was low this year as resources were prepared for the following year's commemorative coins.
1992To celebrate the 125th anniversary of Confederation, the Royal Canadian Mint released twelve commemorative coins. The Royal Canadian Mint struck no quarters with the caribou design.
199373,758,000
199477,670,000
199589,210,000
199628,106,000
1997Not circulated
1998Not circulatedCommermorative quarters dated "1998" were made to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Mint
1999 caribou258,888,000An estimated 20,000 quarters are dated 1999.
2000 caribou434,087,000Only 3 to 5 2000 quarters are known.
2001 caribou8,415,000Struck in nickel
2001 P55,773,000Struck in nickel-plated steel
2002 P156,105,000
2002 P 152,485,000Dated 1952–2002 to reflect Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee
2003 P Crowned87,647,000Crowned 3rd obverse portrait
2003 P Uncrowned66,861,633Uncrowned 4th obverse portrait
2004 P177,466,000
2005 P206,346,000
2006 P423,189,000
2007386,763,000The nickel-plated steel "P" mark was dropped and replaced by an RCM logo.
2008387,222,000
2009266,766,000
2010167,500,000
2011212,970,000
2012178,450,000
2013118,480,000
201497,440,000
201597,320,000
2016106,880,000
2017110,720,000
2018102,560,000
201980,160,000
202096,000,000
2021110,560,000
202291,680,000

Charles III

YearMintage
202380,510,000
202482,560,000
2025