Your Old Canadian Quarters May Now Be Worth $50,000
The Royal Canadian Mint has been making coins for a long time, but even newer coins can be worth hundreds or thousands of dollars due to errors or interesting little quirks that make a coin rare and therefore valuable.
Here at MTL Blog, we love to see our readers become overnight thousand-aires, which is why we're here to provide you with the info you need to seek out these valuable coins.
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Some of the coins below can get you up to $50,000 at auction, but even less valuable coins are worth knowing about so you don't accidentally lose a hundred-dollar quarter!
TL;DR Here are 14 types of Canadian quarters that are worth a lot more than 25 cents. While some are only worth a couple hundred bucks, there are several that can get you thousands or tens of thousands of dollars, if you know what to look for!
2000 P Caribou Quarter
When the Mint started to experiment with nickel-plating steel coins, they printed a little P on the obverse side of these quarters. Not many were released into circulation, making them super rare and worth as much as $10,000.
2000 Millennium Map Mule & 2007 Wheelchair Curling Mule
These coins weren't found in circulation but were actually found in Royal Canadian Mint proof-like sets and a majority of the coins with the error were destroyed by the Mint. With fewer than 100 in existence, you'd be lucky to find one and could likely get "around $500 or more for it."
1992 Rotated Die Error Quarter
In 1992, the Royal Canadian Mint released a commemorative coin for each province. The coins aren't rare, but there were some that were made with "a type of minting error called a 'rotated die'." Essentially, when you turn the coin over, you can see the portrait is rotated 90 or 180 degrees. The error appears in the New Brunswick, Northwest Territories and Saskatchewan coins. The former two generally sell for between $125 and $300, though the Saskatchewan coin is rare enough that it has yet to be sold at auction so could go for much more.
1973 Large Bust Mountie Quarter
Made to commemorate the 100th birthday of the RCMP, the Mint created hundreds of millions of quarters depicting a Mountie on horseback. But some of them were made with the "obverse of the 1972 Quarter," making them rare. Circulated copies can get you $150, while mint condition examples are worth between $300 and $500.
1967 Bobcat Nickel Pattern Quarter
The Mint created around 50 million of these silver quarters, making them quite common, but a rumoured 5-10 of them were struck in nickel, making them rare. You'd have to take the coin in somewhere to know for sure if it's nickel or silver, but if it is nickel you could get yourself somewhere between $3,000 and $5,000 at auction.
1951 Low Relief George VI Quarter
The Royal Canadian Mint created two types of quarters in 1951 and the "low relief" ones are particularly rare. On the low relief coin the first "A" in DEI GRATIA points between two rim denticles, whereas the high relief points directly to a denticle. According to My Road To Wealth And Freedom, these low relief versions can pull in "several hundreds, if not thousands of dollars!"
1947 Dot George VI Quarter
This dot coin was created to remove the "Emperor of India" inscription after India gained independence in 1948. Originally the dot was actually a little maple leaf, to signify the year they were made, but over time the die deteriorated, turning the leaf into a dot. Low-end, this coin will get you $100 or less, but in in mint condition, this coin could get you somewhere between $1,500 and $3,500.
1936 Dot George V Quarter
Apparently, these coins were made in the midst of Edward VIII abdicating the throne, so they made these to "buy time" until the effigy of George VI was ready. The dot means that the coin was made in 1937 and low-end grade examples can be found for $100, while better condition coins can sell for around $5,000.
1921 George V Quarter
These silver coins are "highly sought after" amongst collectors and fetch a wide range of prices depending on the condition. Low-end coins may get you less than $50, while coins in a better state can fetch "thousands, or in some cases, tens of thousands" of dollars.
1915 George V Quarter
Apparently, very few of these coins are still around today and now they aren't usually in very good condition. Those in mint state have pulled anywhere from $5,000 to $14,000 at auction. Other, mid-grade circulations can fetch anywhere from $250 to $900.
1906 Small Crown Edward VII Quarter
This is considered the "rarest of rare Canadian Quarters," with only about 100 coins made before the Mint realized their error. The crown at the top of the coin on the reverse side is smaller than intended. Apparently, very few of these coins still exist today, but they have been sold at auction for $50,000 when in good condition. Low-grade conditions will pull in around $1,000.
1893 Queen Victoria Quarter
This rare coin will get you some cash in any condition, but the better the condition the better the price, of course. Low-grade condition coins can fetch you "a few hundred" dollars, whereas a better condition will likely bring in "a few thousand."
1889 Queen Victoria Quarter
Low grades of this rare coin with get you a "couple hundred bucks," but even if they are in "mid-grade" condition you can still get $1,000 for one of these bad boys. Mint condition means you're looking at prices in the "tens of thousands" of dollars.
1875 H Queen Victoria Quarter
Worth tens of thousands in a mint state, this coin can get you between $500 and $1,000 even in "low grade" states. This coin is often called the "Queen of Canadian Quarters" and is apparently the rarest Victoria Quarter.
All the information in this article is courtesy of My Road To Wealth And Freedom and has been quoted accordingly.
If you are looking to have coins appraised, head to Canadian Coin & Currency to find answers to your coin-related inquiries.