2008 Quebec City 400th Toonie
The 2008 Quebec City 400th Toonie is a circulating toonie with 6.01 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2008
- Circulation mintage
- 6,010,000
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- Geneviève Bertrand
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 2008 Quebec City 400th Toonie worth?
6.01 million were made, so the 2008 Quebec City 400th Toonie is easy to find. A circulated one is worth face value; collectors pay a little more only for uncirculated coins.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition
- Colored versions from collector packs
- Specimen or proof finish from a Mint set
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 2008 Quebec City 400th Toonie rare?
- No. 6.01 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2008 Quebec City 400th Toonie coins were made?
- 6,010,000 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 2008 Quebec City 400th Toonie?
- The design is credited to Geneviève Bertrand.
- What is the 2008 Quebec City 400th Toonie made of?
- Bimetallic: nickel outer ring, aluminum bronze core. It weighs 7.3 g and measures 28 mm.
- Is the 2008 Quebec City 400th Toonie still legal tender?
- Yes. Every toonie, commemoratives included, is legal tender in Canada.
Why the 2008 Quebec City 400th Toonie was made
Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec City on July 3, 1608, at a narrow point of the St. Lawrence River where cliffs made a natural fortress. It was one of the first permanent French settlements in North America and grew into the capital of New France, the base from which French explorers, traders and missionaries pushed deep into the continent. The city later passed to British rule but kept its French language and culture. Today its walled old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the city remains the capital of the province of Quebec.
The 400th anniversary in 2008 brought a full year of celebrations and the Royal Canadian Mint joined in with a commemorative toonie. Like the other special toonies of the period it went into ordinary circulation rather than being held back for collectors, so it reached cash registers and coin jars across the country. The mintage was just over six million, slightly higher than the 2006 anniversary coin. For many people outside Quebec this was the coin that reminded them how old the city really is: older than Confederation by more than two and a half centuries.
How to recognize it
Geneviève Bertrand built her design around a large fleur-de-lis, the lily emblem of old France that also appears on the flag of Quebec. It dominates the core and makes the coin easy to spot in a handful of change. Look closely and you will see the other elements: a sailing ship, a reminder of the vessels that brought Champlain and the early settlers across the Atlantic. There are also flowing lines that represent the St. Lawrence River, the waterway that made the site so important. Together they tell the story of arrival by sea and settlement on the river. The obverse carries Queen Elizabeth II in the Susanna Blunt portrait. If you see that big lily, you have the right coin.
2008 Quebec City 400th Toonie by the numbers
In mintage terms the 2008 Quebec City 400th Toonie ranks 10th lowest of 13 circulating toonies with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2017 Vimy Ridge Toonie (5.13 million); the next more common is the 2017 Dance of the Spirits Toonie (10 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2000 Path of Knowledge Toonie with 29.9 million, about 5 times as many. The scarcest is the 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Toonie with 4.31 million.
It was the only circulating commemorative toonie dated 2008.
What to check on your 2008 Quebec City 400th Toonie
- Confirm the design: the Quebec City 400th reverse dated 2008, in a silver-colored ring with a gold-colored center.
- Check whether it has added color. Colored toonies came from collector products or special circulation releases; keep them out of rough handling.
- Look at the join between ring and core. It should be tight and even; a loose or damaged core is damage, not a rarity.
- Specimen and proof toonies from Mint sets have satin or mirror finishes that circulation coins never have.
At 6,010,000 for circulation, the Quebec City toonie sits in the middle of the pack: far scarcer than the 1999 and 2000 issues but similar to most commemoratives that followed. Circulated coins are face value. Because the fleur-de-lis is large and raised, it tends to pick up wear and scuffs on its top edges first, so check there when judging condition. A coin with a sharp lily, visible rigging on the ship and full luster can draw a small premium from collectors filling a set. Anything with heavy wear or rim damage is simply spending money.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 2 dollars |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 2008 |
| Circulation mintage | 6,010,000 |
| Composition | Bimetallic: nickel outer ring, aluminum bronze core |
| Weight | 7.3 g |
| Diameter | 28 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Intermittent milling |
| Designer | Geneviève Bertrand |
Frequently asked questions
Who designed the 2008 Quebec City toonie?
Geneviève Bertrand designed it for the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City. Her reverse combines a large fleur-de-lis with a sailing ship and lines for the St. Lawrence River. The Mint struck 6,010,000 for circulation.
What does the fleur-de-lis on the 2008 toonie mean?
The fleur-de-lis was the emblem of the French crown and is now the symbol of Quebec, appearing on its flag. On this coin it stands for the French founding of Quebec City by Samuel de Champlain in 1608.
Mintage figures: Toonie (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.