1996 Canadian Quarter
The 1996 Canadian Quarter is a Canadian quarter struck for circulation with 28.1 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1996
- Circulation mintage
- 28,106,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Composition
- Nickel (99.9%)
Original illustration of the coin's shape and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Face value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1996 Canadian Quarter worth?
With 28.1 million made, the 1996 Canadian Quarter is common and worth face value in circulated condition. Only uncirculated coins with full luster, recognized varieties and genuine errors interest collectors.
What would make yours worth more:
- Full uncirculated luster
- A recognized variety or genuine error
- Coins from a specimen or proof set
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 1996 Canadian Quarter rare?
- No. 28.1 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 1996 Canadian quarters were made?
- 28,106,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1996 Canadian Quarter made of?
- Nickel (99.9%). It weighs 5.05 g and measures 23.88 mm.
- Is the 1996 Canadian Quarter still legal tender?
- Yes. Every Canadian quarter is legal tender at 25 cents.
The 1996 quarter in context
The mint struck 28,106,000 quarters dated 1996, a modest figure for the nickel era and the lowest since 1991's tiny run. It was a year when the spotlight was on a new coin, the two dollar toonie, launched in February 1996. Quarters dated 1997 and 1998 have no regular circulation figure in the standard listings, so the 1996 is the last caribou quarter with a regular circulation mintage before the millennium coins of 1999. The toonie replaced the two dollar bill that year.
That gap makes 1996 more interesting than its mintage alone suggests. Collectors assembling a run of circulation quarters find 1996 followed directly by 1999, with the two years between them missing from the circulation list. The 1996 is not a rarity, but it is one of the lower modern dates, alongside 1990 and 1987 and well below the 70 to 90 million of 1993 to 1995. For anyone sorting change, it is a date worth noticing even if it is not one to get excited about. It is easy to overlook.
How to recognize it
The reverse is Hahn's caribou with CANADA, 25 CENTS and 1996. The obverse carries Dora de Pédery-Hunt's crowned portrait of the queen with ELIZABETH II D·G·REGINA. There is no mint mark. The coin is pure nickel, 5.07 g and 23.88 mm and sticks to a magnet. Read the date carefully, since a worn 6 can look like an 8 or a 0. A sharp, unworn 1996 shows crisp detail in the caribou's antlers and in the queen's crown, the two areas that wear first. Its weight and diameter match every nickel quarter from 1968 to 2000. Nothing on it marks the year as special.
1996 Canadian Quarter by the numbers
By the numbers, the 1996 Canadian Quarter ranks 89th lowest of 147 Canadian quarter dates and varieties from 1870 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 1966 Canadian Quarter (25.6 million); the next more common is the 1962 Canadian Quarter (29.6 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2000 Canadian Quarter with 434.1 million, about 15 times as many. The scarcest is the 1889 Canadian Quarter with 66,324, 424 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1996 output was 3.2 times fewer than 1995 and 9.2 times fewer than 1999.
Over the 1990s the Mint produced 559.3 million quarters across 7 dates and varieties; the 1996 Canadian Quarter accounts for 5.0% of that.
What to check on your 1996 Canadian Quarter
- Try a magnet. Nickel (99.9%) is magnetic, so a genuine 1996 coin sticks; a silver one would not.
- Never clean it. Rubbing or polishing leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- Look for full luster and no scratches. Modern quarters only interest collectors in uncirculated condition or with a recognized variety.
At 28,106,000, the 1996 is a lower mintage modern quarter but still a face value coin in circulated condition. Uncirculated examples carry a small premium, more for coins with full luster and no marks. For date collectors it is worth keeping a nice one, since it closes the run of regular nickel caribou quarters before the millennium years. Worn 1996s still turn up in change. Look for one with sharp antlers and no scratches if you want a nice example for a date set.
Nickel quarters, 1968 to 2000
From 1968 the quarter was pure nickel, 5.07 g and 23.88 mm, a hard metal that wears well and is attracted to a magnet. Machin's portrait of the queen continued until 1989 and Hahn's caribou was back on the reverse. Mintages became enormous, with 133,037,929 in 1969 and 192,360,598 in 1974. The one regular break in the caribou came in 1973, when a Mountie on horseback marked the centennial of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
A few years stand out for low output. Only 10,302,010 quarters are dated 1970 and 13,162,000 are dated 1983, but the real oddity is 1991, with just 459,000. In 1990 Dora de Pédery-Hunt's crowned portrait replaced Machin's; she was the first Canadian artist to design the royal effigy for Canada's coins. The 1992 quarters were a 125th anniversary set with one design for each province and territory, so there is no regular 1992 figure. Neither 1997 nor 1998 has one either.
The century closed with the millennium program: twelve designs for 1999, one for each month, then twelve more for 2000, drawn from ideas sent in by Canadians. Alongside them the caribou kept going with huge runs. For collectors, the coins to set aside are the 1973 large bust variety, the 1991 and to a lesser degree 1970 and 1983. Nearly everything else from these years is a face value coin, though bright uncirculated pieces are pleasant to keep.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 25 cents |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 1996 |
| Circulation mintage | 28,106,000 |
| Composition | Nickel (99.9%) |
| Weight | 5.05 g |
| Diameter | 23.88 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Reeded |
Frequently asked questions
Is the 1996 Canadian quarter rare?
Not really. 28,106,000 were struck, lower than most nickel quarters but far above the 459,000 of 1991. Circulated coins are face value, while uncirculated ones carry a small premium. Worn ones are common today.
Are there 1997 and 1998 Canadian quarters?
Quarters with those dates exist, but neither year has a regular circulation figure in the standard listings. That makes 1996 the last caribou quarter with a regular circulation mintage before 1999.
Mintage figures: Quarter (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.