Quarter (Canadian coin)

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Quarter (Canada)
Value: 0.25 CAD
Mass: 4.4 g
Diameter: 23.88 mm
Thickness: 1.58 mm
Edge: milled
Composition: 94% steel,
3.8% Cu,
2.2% Ni plating
Years of Minting: 2003–present
Catalog Number: -
Obverse
Obverse
Design: Queen Elizabeth II, Canada's Queen
Designer: Susanna Blunt
Design Date: 2003
Reverse
Reverse
Design: Caribou
Designer: Emmanuel Hahn
Design Date: 1937

The quarter is a Canadian coin, valued at 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 coin, but in practice the term quarter is nearly universal.

In Canadian French, the quarter is commonly called a trente sous (a "thirty cents"). This is because the sou originally referred to a monetary unit used in France (and also New France), whereas today in Canadian French it means a Canadian cent, and somewhere in history 120 sous of New France came to be worth the equivalent of what eventually became the Canadian dollar. The exact exchange-rate mechanism by which this came to be is the subject of various occasionally contradictory theories.[1][2]

History of Composition [3]

Years Weight Diameter/Shape Composition
2000–present 4.4 g 23.88 mm 94.0% steel, 3.8% copper, 2.2% nickel plating
1968–1999 5.05 g 23.88 mm 99.9% nickel
1967–1968 5.05 g 23.88 mm 50% silver, 50% copper
1953–1967 5.83 g 23.88 mm 80% silver, 20% copper
1920–1952 5.83 g 23.62 mm 80% silver, 20% copper
1910–1919 5.83 g 23.62 mm 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper
1908–1910 5.81 g 23.62 mm 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper

The coin was made slightly thinner in 1978.


Contents

[edit] Commemorative Reverses

This coin has the most commonly altered reverse in Canada, being the usual venue for commemorative issues. These include

  • 1967: Canadian centennial; all coins had unique reverses, the 25 cent coin had a bobcat.
Year Theme Artist Mintage
1967 100th Anniversary of the Confederation Alex Colville 48,855,500
  • 1973: Centennial of the RCMP, depicting a mounted RCMP officer (the name of the officer is Paul Cedarberg).
Year Theme Artist Mintage
1973 100th Anniversary of the RCMP Paul Cedarberg 135,958,589
  • 1992: 125th anniversary of Confederation; 12 reverses, one for each province and territory.(See chart below for details).
  • 1999: Millennium series; monthly issues (named by month), each with a theme from the previous millennium (See chart below for details).
  • 2000: Millennium series continued; monthly themed issues (named by theme) for the coming millennium (See chart below for details).
  • 2002: Double date commemorating the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II's accession with the 135th years of National Pride maple leaf design. The coin was issued for 2 months starting Canada Day. Regular design exists as well featuring the same double date "1952-2002".
  • 2004: Two different commemoratives were issued for circulation.
Year Theme Artist Mintage Special Notes
2004 Acadia (Ile Ste. Croix) R.R. Carmichael, Stan Witten 15,400,000 A 17th century sailing ship and the dates 1604-2004
2004 Poppy Cosme Saffioti, Stan Witten 28,500,000 This was the first coloured general circulation coin in the world.
  • 2005 Three different commemoratives were issued for circulation.
Year Theme Artist Mintage
2005 Alberta Centennial Michelle Williams 20,640,000
2005 Saskatchewan Centennial Paulette Sapergia 19,290,000
2005 Year of the Veteran Elaine Gobel 29,390,000
Year of the Veteran
Year of the Veteran
  • 2006 Two different commemoratives were minted for circulation.
Year Theme Artist Mintage
2006 Pink Ribbon Cosme Saffioti N/A
2006 Medal of Bravery RCM Engravers N/A
  • 2007 Five different Olympic commemoratives were minted for circulation.
Year Sport Artist Mintage
2007 Curling Glen Green 22,000,000
2007 Ice Hockey N/A N/A
2007 Paralympic Curling N/A N/A
2007 Biathlon N/A N/A
2007 Alpine Skiing N/A N/A

[edit] First Strikes

Year Theme Mintage Issue Price
2004 The Poppy 9,928 $19.95
2005 Alberta Centennial 8,936 $14.95
2005 Caribou 1,807 $14.95
2005 Saskatchewan Centennial 6,926 $14.95
2005 Year of the Veteran 7,820 $14.95
2006 Medal of Bravery 5,000 $15.95
2006 New Mint Mark 5,000 $29.95
2006 Pink Ribbon 20,000 $15.95

Olympic First Strikes

Year Sport Artist Mintage Issue Price Release Date
2007 Curling Glen Green 10,000 $15.95 February 24
2007 Ice Hockey N/A 10,000 $15.95 April 4
2007 Paralympic Curling N/A 10,000 $15.95 July 11
2007 Biathlon N/A 10,000 $15.95 September 12
2007 Alpine Skiing N/A 10,000 $15.95 October 24

[edit] 125th Anniversary of Confederation

Province Date of Release Artist Mintage
Alberta June 4, 1992 Mel Heath 12,133,000
British Columbia November 9, 1992 Carla Egan 14,001,000
Manitoba April 7, 1992 Muriel Hope 11,349,000
New Brunswick January 9, 1992 Ronald Lambert 2,174,000
Newfoundland March 5, 1992 Christoper Newhook 11,405,000
Northwest Territories February 6, 1992 Beth McEachen 12,580,000
Nova Scotia September 9, 1992 Bruce Wood 13,600,000
Ontario August 6, 1992 Greg Salmela 14,263,000
Prince Edward Island July 7, 1992 Nigel Roe 13,001,000
Quebec October 1, 1992 Romualdas Bukauskas 13,607,000
Saskatchewan November 5, 1992 Brian Cobb 14,165,000
Yukon May 7, 1992 Libby Dulac 10,388,000

[edit] Millennium Twenty-Five Cent Coins

The following is a list of the winning themes and artists for the 1999 and 2000 Millennium Coins:[1]

1999

Month Theme Artist Mintage
January 1999 A Country Unfolds P. Ka-Kin Poon 12,238,559
February 1999 Etched in Stone L. Springer 13,985,195
March 1999 The Log Drive M. Lavoie 15,157,061
April 1999 Our Northern Heritage Ken Ojnak Ashevac 15,214,397
May 1999 The Voyageurs S. Minenok 14,906,187
June 1999 Coast to Coast G. Ho 19,821,722
July 1999 A Nation of People M.H. Sarkany 16,537,018
August 1999 The Pioneer Spirit A. Botelho 17,621,561
September 1999 Canada Through a Child’s Eye C. Bertrand 31,077,650
October 1999 A Tribute to the First Nation J.E. Read 31,964,487
November 1999 The Air Plane Opens The North B.R. Bacon 27,437,677
December 1999 This is Canada J.L.P. Provencher 42,927,482

2000

Month Theme Artist Mintage
January 2000 Pride Donald F. Warkentin 50,749,102
February 2000 Ingenuity John Jaciw 35,812,988
March 2000 Achievement Daryl Dorosz 35,135,154
April 2000 Health Annie Wassef 34,663,619
May 2000 Natural Legacy Randy Trantau 36,416,953
June 2000 Harmony Haver Demirer 34,604,075
July 2000 Celebration Laura Paxton 34,816,329
August 2000 Family Wade Stephen Baker 34,320,111
September 2000 Wisdom Cezar Şerbănescu 33,993,016
October 2000 Creativity Jerik (Kong Tat) Hui 35,102,206
November 2000 Freedom Kathy Vinish 33,251,352
December 2000 Community Michelle Thibodeau 34,378,898

[edit] Canada Day

Since 2000, the RCM has been issuing colourized quarters on Canada Day with designs aimed to attract young collectors. As with other collector coins issued by the RCM, the Canada Day series coins are non-circulating legal tender.

Year Theme Artist Mintage Issue Price Special Notes
2000 Millennium Coloured Coin "Canada Day" Laura Paxton 26,106 $8.95 1st Canada Day Coin
2001 Canada Day Coloured Coin Silke Ware 96,352 $9.95 N/A
2002 Canada Day Coloured Coin Judith Chartier 49,901 $9.95 Version w/o colour was circulated
2003 Canada Day Coloured Coin Jade Pearen 63,511 $9.95 N/A
2004 Canada Day Coloured Coin Cosme Saffioti 44,759 $9.95 N/A
2004 Canada Day Multi-Ply Plated Steel Nick Wooster 29,762 24.95 Part of Canada Day Bundle.
2005 Canada Day Coin Stan Witten N/A 9.95 N/A
2006 Canada Day Coin (Coloured featuring two children holding a Canadian flag) N/A N/A 9.95 Packaged with Four Crayola Crayons

[edit] Alberta/Saskatchewan Centennial

Two commemorative twenty-five cent coins are issued to honour the centennials of Alberta and Saskatchewan. For the first time ever, the public is given the opportunity to vote on the coin design. Two toll-free phone numbers (1-877-884-5550 for the Alberta Coin and 1-877-884-5557 for the Saskatchewan coin) were established for voting. There were four different Alberta designs to choose from and three different Saskatchewan designs to choose from. The four designs were titled:

  • 1) Big Sky Country
  • 2) Alberta’s Natural Beauty
  • 3) A Dynamic Century
  • 4) Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

There were three different Saskatchewan designs to choose from.

The winners for Alberta and Saksatchewan were: Big Sky Country (designed by Michelle Grant) and the Western Meadowlark (designed by Paulette Sapergia). [2] [3] A total of 20,640,000 Alberta coins and a total of 19,290,000 Saskatchewan coins were minted. [4]

[edit] Other Notable Dates

  • The 1906 Small Crown is valued in the thousands of dollars for even very poor conditions.
  • 1936 marked two valuable variations, the Bar and the Dot, both trend for over $1000 in uncirculated condition.
  • The 1947 Dot is highly desired.
  • The 1951 High Relief was only made available in proof-like sets and have a mintage of around 500.
  • The 1973 Large Bust is arguably the most desired Canadian Quarter. They sell for around $300 in Proof Like or Speciman condition, and can sell in the thousands for high end circulation strikes.
  • The 1992 New Brunswick quarter has several rotated die versions, with the 180 degree rotation selling for between $100 and $200 in uncirculated condition.
  • 1999 featured mule versions of the September and November quarters. These coins do not have the 25 CENT mark on them, making them, ironically, legal tender without a face value. Both tend to sell for over $100 depending on the exact condition of the coin.
  • The 2000 Map Mule is rather rare and generally sells between $300 and $600.
  • The 2000P quarter is a very rare find and trends for around $5000 in uncirculated condition.

[edit] Trivia

  • The first commemoratives were planned for 1927 to celebrate Canada's 60th Anniversary. A contest was held and the winner for the twenty-five cent coin was J.A.H. MacDonald. The RCM decided to not turn the design into coinage. [5]
  • When coinage was changed in 1937, the caribou was planned for the 5-cent coin, the Beaver was planned for the 10-cent coin, and the Bluenose was planned for the 25 cent coin. .[6]
  • Lowest mintage of the post WW II era was the 1991 25-cent coin. Its low mintage attributed to a work stoppage [7]
  • The name of the ship on the 2004 twenty-five piece to commemorate Acaide was "La Bonne-Renommée" [8]

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins, 60th Edition
  2. ^ http://www.albertacentennial.ca/news/viewpost.aspx~id=476.html
  3. ^ http://www.gov.sk.ca/news?newsId=926aac3d-4646-4e32-b59c-78e1fe1197c1&newsPN=Shared
  4. ^ Royal Canadian Mint 2005 Annual Report, p.38
  5. ^ Striking Impressions, James A. Haxby, 1983, ISBN 0-660-91234-1
  6. ^ Striking Impressions, James A. Haxby, 1983, ISBN 0-660-91234-1
  7. ^ Charlton Standard of Canadian Coins, p.128
  8. ^ Charlton Standard of Canadian Coins, p.135


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