1920 Canadian Quarter
The 1920 Canadian Quarter is a Canadian quarter struck for circulation with 1.98 million made. Value band: metal value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1920
- Circulation mintage
- 1,975,278
- Value band
- Metal value
- Composition
- 80% silver, 20% copper
Original illustration of the coin's shape and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1920 Canadian Quarter worth?
The 1920 Canadian Quarter is a silver coin with 0.15 troy ounces of pure silver, so its floor is its metal value: 0.15 times the day's silver spot price. With 1.98 million made, worn examples trade for about their silver; collectors pay more for sharp, original coins and much more for uncirculated ones with full luster.
What would make yours worth more:
- Sharp detail with original luster
- A recognized variety for the date
- Professional grading for a key date
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 1920 Canadian Quarter rare?
- Not by mintage. 1.98 million were made, but it is silver, so even worn examples are worth their metal value rather than face value.
- How many 1920 Canadian quarters were made?
- 1,975,278 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1920 Canadian Quarter made of?
- 80% silver, 20% copper. It weighs 5.83 g and measures 23.62 mm.
- Is the 1920 Canadian Quarter still legal tender?
- Yes. Every Canadian quarter is legal tender at 25 cents, but a silver one is worth more for its metal than its face value.
The 1920 quarter in context
The 1920 is the first Canadian quarter struck in 80 percent silver. Silver had climbed in price after the First World War and Canada, like Britain, cut the silver content of its coins that year. Britain went further, to 50 percent; Canada settled on 80. The weight was set at 5.83 g and the diameter at 23.62 mm, leaving about 0.15 troy ounces of pure silver in each coin, down from roughly 0.173 in sterling. Few people handling the new coins would have noticed.
The change is invisible. The 1920 looks exactly like the sterling 1919 before it, with Mackennal's portrait of George V and the maple wreath reverse, so only the date tells you the metal. The Ottawa mint struck 1,975,278 quarters dated 1920, well down from 1919's 5,852,262. Output soon fell much further. After 597,337 for 1921, no quarters were made again until 1927. The 1920 is the start of an alloy that stayed on Canadian quarters until 1967. It also fixed the 5.83 g weight that the silver quarter kept until 1968.
How to recognize it
The obverse is Mackennal's crowned and robed bust of George V with GEORGIVS V DEI GRA: REX ET IND: IMP:. The reverse carries 25 CENTS, CANADA and 1920 inside a maple wreath topped by a crown. There is no mint mark and nothing on the coin states its silver content. On a worn coin the final 0 can look like a 6 or an 8. No quarters are dated 1926, so if you think you see one, it is more likely a 1920 or a 1928. The coin measures 23.62 mm and weighs 5.83 g. The high points of the crown are the first to go smooth.
1920 Canadian Quarter by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 1920 Canadian Quarter ranks 47th lowest of 147 Canadian quarter dates and varieties from 1870 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 1911 Canadian Quarter (1.72 million); the next more common is the 1907 Canadian Quarter (2.09 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2000 Canadian Quarter with 434.1 million, about 220 times as many. The scarcest is the 1889 Canadian Quarter with 66,324, 30 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1920 output was 3 times fewer than 1919 and 3.3 times the 1921 figure.
Over the 1920s the Mint produced 7.85 million quarters across 5 dates and varieties; the 1920 Canadian Quarter accounts for 25% of that.
What to check on your 1920 Canadian Quarter
- Check the date first: silver Canadian quarters carry dates from 1870 to 1968; this one has 0.15 troy oz. Silver coins are not magnetic and ring clearly when dropped on a hard surface.
- Never clean it. Rubbing or polishing leaves fine scratches that collectors spot at once and that cut the value of silver dates sharply.
- Look at the high points of the portrait and the design. Wear there sets the grade. The grade in turn drives the value of older quarters.
The 1920 is a common date in worn condition, carrying a small premium over its silver. Its appeal is mainly as the first year of the new alloy, which makes it a natural partner for a 1919 in a type collection. Coins with full crown detail and sharp leaves are worth keeping separate. Like all silver quarters of the era, it is worth more than face value for its metal even in poor condition. Uncirculated coins are scarcer and draw more.
George V 80% silver quarters, 1920 to 1936
Silver prices jumped after the First World War and in 1920 Canada lowered the fineness of its silver coins from sterling to 80 percent. The quarter was set at 5.83 g and 23.62 mm, which leaves about 0.15 troy ounces of pure silver in each one. Nothing on the coin announces the change. Mackennal's portrait of George V and the maple wreath reverse carried on as before, so a 1919 and a 1920 look alike and only the date tells you which alloy you have.
Demand then fell away. After 597,337 coins dated 1921, no quarters were struck at all for 1922 to 1926, since banks still held plenty from the big wartime runs. Production restarted in 1927 with a modest 468,096. On 1 December 1931 the Ottawa branch of the Royal Mint became the Royal Canadian Mint, though the quarters look no different. Through the Depression years mintages stayed small, at 421,282 for 1933 and 384,350 for 1934, the lowest regular date of this group.
George V died in January 1936. Edward VIII never had Canadian coins struck in his name and George VI's dies were not ready in time, so in 1937 the mint struck more coins from 1936 dies with a small dot added below the date. That 1936 dot quarter, the 1921, the 1927 and the 1934 are the dates collectors hunt for here. Every coin from these years is silver, so even a worn one is worth more than face value for its metal alone.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 25 cents |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 1920 |
| Circulation mintage | 1,975,278 |
| Composition | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| Weight | 5.83 g |
| Diameter | 23.62 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Reeded |
Frequently asked questions
Is a 1920 Canadian quarter sterling silver?
No. The 1920 is 80 percent silver, the first Canadian quarter in the lower alloy. It weighs 5.83 g and contains about 0.15 troy ounces of pure silver. Quarters dated 1919 and earlier are sterling.
Why did Canada lower the silver in its quarters in 1920?
Silver prices rose sharply after the First World War, making sterling coins expensive to produce. Canada reduced the fineness to 80 percent, a smaller cut than Britain, which moved to 50 percent the same year.
Mintage figures: Quarter (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.