1936 Dot Canadian Quarter
The 1936 Dot Canadian Quarter is a Canadian quarter struck for circulation with 153,322 made. Value band: significant rarity. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1936
- Circulation mintage
- 153,322
- Value band
- Significant rarity
- 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 1936 Dot Canadian Quarter worth?
With 153,322 struck, the 1936 Dot Canadian Quarter ranks 5th lowest of the 147 circulating Canadian quarters we track. Collectors pay a collector premium even for worn examples. Sharp, uncirculated coins with no marks bring considerably more.
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 1936 Dot Canadian Quarter rare?
- Yes, by the standards of Canadian quarters. With 153,322 struck, the 1936 Dot Canadian Quarter ranks 5th lowest of the 147 circulating Canadian quarters we track.
- How many 1936 Dot Canadian quarters were made?
- 153,322 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1936 Dot Canadian Quarter made of?
- 80% silver, 20% copper. It weighs 5.83 g and measures 23.62 mm.
- Is the 1936 Dot 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 1936 quarter in context
When 1937 began, the mint had a problem. George V had died, Edward VIII had abdicated and the new George VI dies, with fresh designs including the caribou, were not ready. Canada still needed coins. The answer was to keep striking with George V's 1936 dies and to add a small raised dot below the date, so the coins made in 1937 could be told apart from those struck in 1936.
The mint struck 153,322 dot quarters this way. The cent and the ten cent piece got the same treatment and the 1936 dot cent became one of the greatest rarities in Canadian coinage. The dot quarter is far more available than that cent, but it is still a key coin, with a mintage less than a sixth of the plain 1936. Collectors see it as the last chapter of George V's coinage, struck after his death while the country waited for George VI's new designs. The dot is small, but it changed the story of a whole year's coinage.
How to recognize it
The design is the regular 1936 type: Mackennal's crowned bust of George V with GEORGIVS V DEI GRA: REX ET IND: IMP: and on the reverse 25 CENTS, CANADA and 1936 inside the maple wreath with a crown. The difference is a small raised dot below the date. It should be cleanly struck, rounded and part of the surface, not a lump or a hollow. Use a magnifier and compare with a plain 1936 if you can. Metal and size match the plain coin: 80 percent silver, 5.83 g and 23.62 mm. Wear can soften the dot, so a heavily worn coin may need expert attribution.
1936 Dot Canadian Quarter by the numbers
In mintage terms the 1936 Dot Canadian Quarter ranks 5th lowest of 147 Canadian quarter dates and varieties from 1870 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 1891 Canadian Quarter (120,000); the next more common is the 1885 Canadian Quarter (192,000).
For scale, the most common is the 2000 Canadian Quarter with 434.1 million, about 2831 times as many. The scarcest is the 1889 Canadian Quarter with 66,324, 2.3 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1936 output was 3.5 times fewer than 1935 and 18 times fewer than 1937. Other 1936 quarters: 1936 Canadian Quarter (972,094).
Over the 1930s the Mint produced 13.9 million quarters across 11 dates and varieties; the 1936 Dot Canadian Quarter accounts for 1.1% of that.
What to check on your 1936 Dot 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.
- Confirm the variety: dot below the date. Use a magnifier and compare with a reference picture before you assume you have the scarcer one.
- 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.
With 153,322 struck, the dot quarter carries a collector premium in every grade and is one of the key George V quarters. A dot can be added to a common 1936 with little effort, so authentication matters. Weak or doubtful dots are common on worn coins and a grading service is the safest way to confirm one. Well struck examples with a clear, sharp dot draw the strongest interest. Plain 1936s with damage near the date deserve suspicion if offered as dot coins.
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 | 1936 |
| Circulation mintage | 153,322 |
| Composition | 80% silver, 20% copper |
| Weight | 5.83 g |
| Diameter | 23.62 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Reeded |
Other 1936 Canadian quarters
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 1936 Canadian Quarter | 972,094 | Small premium |
Frequently asked questions
What does the dot on a 1936 Canadian quarter mean?
It shows the coin was struck in 1937 using 1936 George V dies, because the new George VI dies were not ready. The dot was added below the date to mark these later strikes.
How many 1936 dot quarters were made?
The published mintage is 153,322, far below the 972,094 regular 1936 quarters. That makes the dot quarter a key date, though it is much easier to find than the extremely rare 1936 dot cent.
Mintage figures: Quarter (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.