1933 Canadian Quarter

Quick answers

Is the 1933 Canadian Quarter rare?

It is scarcer than most Canadian quarters. Collectors pay a small premium for good examples.

How many 1933 Canadian quarters were made?

421,282 were struck for circulation.

What is the 1933 Canadian Quarter made of?

80% silver, 20% copper. It weighs 5.83 g and measures 23.62 mm.

Is the 1933 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.

How to recognize it

The 1933 Canadian Quarter is round, 23.62 mm across and 80% silver, 20% copper.

1933 Canadian Quarter by the numbers

By the numbers, the 1933 Canadian Quarter ranks 16th lowest of 147 Canadian quarter dates and varieties from 1870 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 1899 Canadian Quarter (415,580); the next more common is the 1991 Canadian Quarter (459,000).

For scale, the most common is the 2000 Canadian Quarter with 434.1 million, about 1030 times as many. The scarcest is the 1889 Canadian Quarter with 66,324, 6.4 times fewer than this one.

Compared with the dates around it, the 1933 output was 1.3 times fewer than 1932 and 1.1 times the 1934 figure.

Over the 1930s the Mint produced 13.9 million quarters across 11 dates and varieties; the 1933 Canadian Quarter accounts for 3.0% of that.

What to check on your 1933 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.

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