1968 50% Silver Canadian Quarter
The 1968 50% Silver Canadian Quarter is a Canadian quarter struck for circulation with 71.5 million made. Value band: metal value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1968
- Circulation mintage
- 71,464,000
- Value band
- Metal value
- Composition
- 50% silver, 50% 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 1968 50% Silver Canadian Quarter worth?
The 1968 50% Silver Canadian Quarter is a silver coin with 0.0937 troy ounces of pure silver, so its floor is its metal value: 0.0937 times the day's silver spot price. With 71.5 million made, worn examples trade for about their silver; collectors pay more for sharp, original coins and much more for uncirculated ones with full luster.
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 1968 50% Silver Canadian Quarter rare?
- Not by mintage. 71.5 million were made, but it is silver, so even worn examples are worth their metal value rather than face value.
- How many 1968 50% Silver Canadian quarters were made?
- 71,464,000 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1968 50% Silver Canadian Quarter made of?
- 50% silver, 50% copper. It weighs 5.83 g and measures 23.88 mm.
- Is the 1968 50% Silver 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 1968 quarter in context
The caribou returned to the quarter in 1968 after the one-year bobcat and the first quarters of the year were still struck in 50 percent silver. The mint made 71,464,000 of them, a large run, before switching the denomination to pure nickel. These are the last Canadian quarters made for circulation with any silver at all. Unlike the bobcat year, nothing about the design tells you what you are holding. That job falls to a magnet or a scale.
Silver prices had been climbing for years and people were pulling silver coins out of circulation. Moving to nickel ended that problem, but it left 1968 with two quarters that look almost the same. The ten cent piece went through the same switch that year, while the fifty cents and the dollar were made smaller and struck in nickel from 1968. Put simply, 1968 is the year Canada's circulating coins left silver behind. Silver 1968 quarters still turn up in rolls and old jars, because the difference is so easy to miss.
How to recognize it
Hahn's caribou is back on the reverse with CANADA, 25 CENTS and 1968. Machin's tiara portrait of the queen is on the obverse with ELIZABETH II D·G·REGINA. The design is identical to the nickel 1968, so the metal is what you need to check. A magnet is the quickest test: a silver coin does not stick, a nickel coin does. On a scale, silver is 5.83 g against 5.07 g for nickel. Side by side, the silver coin usually looks a touch whiter. The pure silver content is about 0.094 troy ounces. The edge is reeded on both versions, so it is no help.
1968 50% Silver Canadian Quarter by the numbers
In mintage terms the 1968 50% Silver Canadian Quarter ranks 101st lowest of 147 Canadian quarter dates and varieties from 1870 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 2003 P Uncrowned Canadian Quarter (66.9 million); the next more common is the 1993 Canadian Quarter (73.8 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2000 Canadian Quarter with 434.1 million, about 6.1 times as many. The scarcest is the 1889 Canadian Quarter with 66,324, 1077 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1968 output was 1.5 times the 1967 figure and 1.9 times fewer than 1969. Other 1968 quarters: 1968 Nickel Canadian Quarter (88.7 million).
Over the 1960s the Mint produced 540.6 million quarters across 11 dates and varieties; the 1968 50% Silver Canadian Quarter accounts for 13% of that.
What to check on your 1968 50% Silver Canadian Quarter
- Check the date first: silver Canadian quarters carry dates from 1870 to 1968; this one has 0.0937 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 for full luster and no scratches. Modern quarters only interest collectors in uncirculated condition or with a recognized variety.
A 1968 silver quarter is worth more than face value for its metal, but with more than 71 million struck it is not scarce. It carries a small premium over its silver in uncirculated condition. The real point for most people is to catch them: test every 1968 quarter with a magnet before spending it. A small refrigerator magnet is enough for the job. Store any you find with your other silver quarters. A worn one is still silver. Never spend one.
Centennial and the end of silver, 1967 to 1968
For Canada's centennial in 1967 every circulating coin got a one-year design by the painter Alex Colville. The quarter shows a bobcat, also described as a lynx, striding across the field with the dates 1867 and 1967. The obverse kept Arnold Machin's portrait of the queen. Colville's set was hugely popular and people saved them in quantity, which is one reason the centennial quarter still turns up so often in old coin jars.
Behind the celebration, silver was getting too expensive to put in pocket change. Partway through 1967 the quarter dropped from 80 percent to 50 percent silver with no change in weight or appearance, which cut the pure silver to about 0.094 troy ounces. The published 1967 mintage of 48,855,500 covers both alloys together. In 1968 the caribou returned and the mint struck 71,464,000 more quarters in 50 percent silver before switching to pure nickel, with 88,686,931 nickel coins that year.
You can't tell an 80 percent 1967 from a 50 percent one by eye, since both weigh 5.83 g and look the same; separating them takes a metal test. A 1968 is easier. Hold it to a magnet: nickel sticks, silver does not. On a scale the nickel coin is lighter, at 5.07 g. Both 1967 versions and the 1968 silver quarter contain real silver, so they are worth more than face value, while a 1968 nickel quarter is an ordinary coin.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 25 cents |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 1968 |
| Circulation mintage | 71,464,000 |
| Composition | 50% silver, 50% copper |
| Weight | 5.83 g |
| Diameter | 23.88 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Reeded |
Other 1968 Canadian quarters
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 Nickel Canadian Quarter | 88,686,931 | Face value |
Frequently asked questions
How can you tell if a 1968 Canadian quarter is silver?
Use a magnet. A 50 percent silver 1968 quarter will not stick, while the nickel version will. You can also weigh it: the silver coin is 5.83 g and the nickel one 5.07 g.
How many 1968 silver quarters were made?
The published mintage is 71,464,000 in 50 percent silver, followed by 88,686,931 in nickel. The silver coins were the last Canadian circulation quarters to contain any silver. The nickel coins came later in the year.
Mintage figures: Quarter (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.