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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]

Contents

History of composition

Commemorative reverses

First strikes

125th Anniversary of Confederation

Millennium Twenty-Five Cent Coins

Canada Day

Alberta/Saskatchewan Centennial

Other notable dates

Trivia

External links

References

History of composition

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.
:''Source:'' Bella Online

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 Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), depicting a mounted RCMP officer.

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. Some U.S. Army contractors travelling in Canada were suspicious of the unusual quarter, which led to the U.S. government releasing a warning about Canadian coins with radio frequency transmitters. [1]

2004 Rememberance Day "Poppy" quarter

★ 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

★ 2006 Two different commemoratives were minted for circulation.

Year	Theme	Artist	Mintage
2006	Pink Ribbon	Cosme Saffioti	29,798,000 [2]
2006	Medal of Bravery	RCM Engravers	20,040,000 [2]

★ 2007 Five different Olympic commemoratives were minted for circulation.
With regards to the circulation coins, one of the novelties is that D.G. Regina will be removed from the Queen's effigy, making the 25-cent coins the first "godless circulating coins" since the 1911 issue of King George V. ^[4]

Year	Sport	Artist	Mintage
2007	Curling	Glen Green	22,000,000
2007	Ice Hockey	Glen Green	22,000,000
2007	Wheelchair curling	Glen Green	22,000,000
2007	Biathlon	N/A	N/A
2007	Alpine Skiing	N/A	N/A

★ 2008 Four different Olympic commemoratives are planned for circulation.

Year	Sport	Artist	Mintage
2008	Snowboarding	TBD	TBD
2008	Freestyle Skiing	TBD	TBD
2008	Figure Skating	TBD	TBD
2008	Bobsleigh	TBD	TBD

★ 2009 Three different Olympic commemoratives are planned for circulation.

Year	Sport	Artist	Mintage
2009	Speed Skating	TBD	TBD
2009	Cross Country Skiing	TBD	TBD
2009	Sledge hockey	TBD	TBD

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	Glen Green	10,000	$15.95	April 4
2007	Paralympic Curling	Glen Green	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

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

Millennium Twenty-Five Cent Coins

The following is a list of the winning themes and artists for the 1999 and 2000 Millennium Coins:^[5]
'1999'

Image	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	Jason Edward 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'

Image	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

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
2007	Canada Day Coin (coloured featuring RCMP)	N/A	N/A	9.95	Packaged with tattoos

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.

★ 1) The Western Meadowlark

★ 2) Canada Geese over Wascana Lake

★ 3) The Round Dance Celebration
The winners for Alberta and Saksatchewan were: Big Sky Country (designed by Michelle Grant) and the Western Meadowlark (designed by Paulette Sapergia).
^[6]
[7]
A total of 20,640,000 Alberta coins and a total of 19,290,000 Saskatchewan coins were minted. ^[8]

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 Low Relief was predominantly 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 Specimen 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.

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. ^[9]

★ 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. .^[9]

★ Lowest mintage of the post WW II era was the 1991 25-cent coin. Its low mintage attributed to a work stoppage ^[11]

★ The name of the ship on the 2004 twenty-five piece to commemorate Acadie was "La Bonne-Renommée" ^[12]

External links

★ Royal Canadian Mint's Official Website

★ Royal Canadian Mint Act

★ Canadian Numismatic Association

★ Numismatic Network Canada

★ Canadian Coin News

★ Coin Collecting Tips

References

1.
2. Royal Canadian Mint 2006 Annual Report, p. 46
3. Royal Canadian Mint 2006 Annual Report, p. 46
4. “14 circulating coins included in 2010 Olympic program”, Bret Evans, Canadian Coin News, January 23 to February 5, 2007 issue of Canadian Coin News
5. Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins, 60th Edition
6. Alberta's Centennial Coin, 2002, retrieved May 72007
7. Saskatchewan Residents Invited To Vote On 2005 Centennial Quarter, January 17, 2005, retrieved May 72007
8. Royal Canadian Mint 2005 Annual Report, p.38
9. Striking Impressions, James A. Haxby, 1983, ISBN 0-660-91234-1
10. Striking Impressions, James A. Haxby, 1983, ISBN 0-660-91234-1
11. Charlton Standard of Canadian Coins, p.128
12. Charlton Standard of Canadian Coins, p.135