1889 Canadian Quarter
The 1889 Canadian Quarter is a Canadian quarter struck for circulation with 66,324 made. Value band: collector premium. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1889
- Circulation mintage
- 66,324
- Value band
- Collector premium
- Composition
- Sterling silver (92.5% silver, 7.5% 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 an 1889 Canadian Quarter worth?
With 66,324 struck, the 1889 Canadian Quarter ranks as the lowest mintage 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 1889 Canadian Quarter rare?
- Yes, by the standards of Canadian quarters. With 66,324 struck, the 1889 Canadian Quarter ranks as the lowest mintage of the 147 circulating Canadian quarters we track.
- How many 1889 Canadian quarters were made?
- 66,324 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1889 Canadian Quarter made of?
- Sterling silver (92.5% silver, 7.5% copper). It weighs 5.81 g and measures 23.62 mm.
- Is the 1889 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 1889 quarter in context
The 1889 is the key date of Victorian quarters and the rarest regular 25 cent coin of the reign. The Royal Mint in London struck just 66,324 of them, far fewer than any other year. Next to the round thousands of the years around it, 66,324 is an oddly exact figure and it stands out on any mintage table. The next lowest Victorian dates, 1887 and 1893, each had 100,000, so the gap is large.
Low mintage is only part of the story. Victorian quarters circulated for decades and many were melted for their silver over the years, so survivors of a small issue like this are genuinely few. Ask collectors to name the Victorian quarter they want most and the 1889 comes up first. It is the coin that turns a date set from nearly complete to complete, which is why demand is strong even for heavily worn pieces with a readable date. Finding one in old family coins is rare, but it does happen, so every Victorian quarter deserves a look at its date.
How to recognize it
Victoria's crowned portrait sits inside VICTORIA DEI GRATIA REGINA CANADA. The reverse carries 25 CENTS and 1889 in a maple wreath with a crown at the top, with no mint mark. The last digit is everything. A real 9 has a closed upper loop and a tail curving down; on altered coins the digit can sit slightly out of line with the 1 and the 8s or show tool marks around it. The coin is sterling silver, about 5.81 g, so a coin that feels light or looks slick is a warning sign. Compare the lettering with a common Victorian quarter for style.
1889 Canadian Quarter by the numbers
In mintage terms the 1889 Canadian Quarter is the lowest of 147 Canadian quarter dates and varieties from 1870 to 2024. The next more common is the 1887 Canadian Quarter (100,000).
Compared with the dates around it, the 1889 output was 6 times fewer than 1888 and 3 times fewer than 1890.
Over the 1880s the Mint produced 4.08 million quarters across 9 dates and varieties; the 1889 Canadian Quarter accounts for 1.6% of that.
What to check on your 1889 Canadian Quarter
- Check the date first: silver Canadian quarters carry dates from 1870 to 1968; this one has 0.1728 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.
This is a significant rarity in any grade. Even a coin worn nearly smooth draws strong collector interest if the date is clear and genuine. Any key date this desirable attracts altered and copied coins, so authentication is essential before you treat yours as the real thing. A grading service can confirm the date, weight and metal. Do not clean it. Keep it in a soft, inert holder to avoid new scratches. Even a damaged 1889 is worth having checked rather than spent or sold as scrap silver.
Victoria sterling quarters, 1870 to 1901
Canada's first 25 cent coins are dated 1870, three years after Confederation. At the time the young Dominion was awash with American silver coins that circulated at a discount, so the government pushed much of that silver out of the country and ordered silver coins of its own in 5, 10, 25 and 50 cent sizes. Canada had no mint, so the coins were struck in England. The obverse shows a crowned Queen Victoria with the legend VICTORIA DEI GRATIA REGINA CANADA. On the reverse, 25 CENTS and the date sit inside a wreath of maple leaves with a crown at the top.
These were sterling silver, 92.5 percent pure, weighing about 5.81 g, which works out to roughly 0.173 troy ounces of pure silver per coin. The Royal Mint in London struck most years, while the private Heaton mint in Birmingham filled several orders and added a small H to the coins it made. Orders followed demand and demand was patchy. No quarters are dated 1873, 1876 to 1879, 1884 or 1895 to 1898. Published mintages swing from 2,240,000 for 1872-H down to just 66,324 for 1889.
Read the date first, then look for the H, because a few years exist both with and without it. The scarce dates of the reign are 1889, the rarest regular Victorian quarter, followed by 1887, 1893, 1891 and 1885, with the Heaton coins of 1875 and 1880 close behind. Most Victorian quarters that survive are well worn, often down to a smooth crown and a faint date, after decades in pockets and tills. Clear hair detail and readable veins in the maple leaves are what lift a coin above the crowd. On the key dates, check the last digit carefully, since a worn 6 or 8 can pass for something rarer.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 25 cents |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 1889 |
| Circulation mintage | 66,324 |
| Composition | Sterling silver (92.5% silver, 7.5% copper) |
| Weight | 5.81 g |
| Diameter | 23.62 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Reeded |
Frequently asked questions
Is the 1889 the rarest Victorian Canadian quarter?
Among regular dates, yes. Only 66,324 were struck at the Royal Mint in London, the lowest published figure of Victoria's reign. Collectors rank it as the key Victorian quarter by a wide margin.
How can you tell if an 1889 Canadian quarter is real?
Check that the weight is about 5.81 g and look closely at the final 9 for tool marks or misalignment. Compare the style with a common Victorian quarter. For a coin this scarce, professional authentication is the safest step.
Mintage figures: Quarter (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.