2000 Canadian Quarter
The 2000 Canadian Quarter is a Canadian quarter struck for circulation with 434.1 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2000
- Circulation mintage
- 434,087,000
- 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 2000 Canadian Quarter worth?
With 434.1 million made, the 2000 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 2000 Canadian Quarter rare?
- No. 434.1 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2000 Canadian quarters were made?
- 434,087,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 2000 Canadian Quarter made of?
- Nickel (99.9%). It weighs 5.05 g and measures 23.88 mm.
- Is the 2000 Canadian Quarter still legal tender?
- Yes. Every Canadian quarter is legal tender at 25 cents.
The 2000 quarter in context
The second year of the millennium program brought twelve more quarters, this time built around themes looking ahead, such as Pride, Harmony, Wisdom and Freedom. Like the 1999 coins, the designs were chosen from submissions by Canadians. They circulated alongside the regular caribou quarter. The published figure for 2000 is 434,087,000, the largest of any date in this listing of Canadian quarters. The final monthly coin closed the program at the end of 2000.
The year 2000 was also the end of an era. It was the last year in which all of Canada's regular circulation quarters were struck in pure nickel. From 2001 the mint moved to steel plated with nickel, a cheaper material, marking those coins with a small P. A nickel 2000 quarter therefore comes near the end of a run that began partway through 1968, more than three decades of solid nickel coinage. With hundreds of millions made, it is one of the most common quarters you can find, but its place at the end of the nickel years gives it a quiet importance.
How to recognize it
The regular 2000 quarter carries Hahn's caribou with CANADA, 25 CENTS and 2000, with Dora de Pédery-Hunt's crowned portrait of the queen and ELIZABETH II D·G·REGINA on the obverse. The millennium coins share that obverse with a different reverse each. The coin is pure nickel, 5.07 g and 23.88 mm. It sticks to a magnet, so a magnet will not separate it from later plated steel coins, but a scale will: plated steel quarters weigh 4.4 g. Look at the caribou's antlers and the jewels of the crown to judge wear. Fresh coins have full luster across the field. There is no mint mark.
2000 Canadian Quarter by the numbers
In mintage terms the 2000 Canadian Quarter is the most common of 147 Canadian quarter dates and varieties from 1870 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 2006 P Canadian Quarter (423.2 million).
Compared with the dates around it, the 2000 output was 1.7 times the 1999 figure and 52 times the 2001 figure.
Over the 2000s the Mint produced 2.66 billion quarters across 12 dates and varieties; the 2000 Canadian Quarter accounts for 16% of that.
What to check on your 2000 Canadian Quarter
- Try a magnet. Nickel (99.9%) is magnetic, so a genuine 2000 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.
With hundreds of millions struck, the 2000 caribou quarter is a face value coin and so are the millennium designs found in change. Collectors like to complete the full run of 24 millennium quarters from 1999 and 2000. Uncirculated examples from rolls or sets carry a small premium. If you sort modern quarters by metal, keep a 2000 as the last nickel caribou year in quantity. Folders made for the series are still a tidy way to store a 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 | 2000 |
| Circulation mintage | 434,087,000 |
| Composition | Nickel (99.9%) |
| Weight | 5.05 g |
| Diameter | 23.88 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Reeded |
Frequently asked questions
Is the 2000 Canadian quarter nickel or steel?
Regular 2000 quarters are pure nickel, weighing 5.07 g. The switch to nickel-plated steel, marked with a small P, came in 2001, when both kinds were made for circulation. That year closed the nickel era.
What are the 2000 millennium quarters?
A series of twelve circulating quarters issued in 2000, each with its own reverse design on a theme such as Pride or Freedom. They followed twelve monthly designs from 1999 and all share the queen's crowned portrait.
Mintage figures: Quarter (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.