1968 Nickel Canadian Quarter
The 1968 Nickel Canadian Quarter is a Canadian quarter struck for circulation with 88.7 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1968
- Circulation mintage
- 88,686,931
- 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 1968 Nickel Canadian Quarter worth?
With 88.7 million made, the 1968 Nickel 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 1968 Nickel Canadian Quarter rare?
- No. 88.7 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 1968 Nickel Canadian quarters were made?
- 88,686,931 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1968 Nickel Canadian Quarter made of?
- Nickel (99.9%). It weighs 5.05 g and measures 23.88 mm.
- Is the 1968 Nickel Canadian Quarter still legal tender?
- Yes. Every Canadian quarter is legal tender at 25 cents.
The 1968 quarter in context
Partway through 1968, the Canadian quarter became a pure nickel coin. Rising silver prices had made silver coinage impractical and nickel was a good replacement: hard wearing, white in color and mined in large quantities in Canada itself. The new quarter weighed 5.07 g, lighter than the 5.83 g silver coin, though the diameter stayed at 23.88 mm. The mint struck 88,686,931 nickel quarters dated 1968.
That first year begins a run of nickel quarters that lasted until 2000, with mintages often in the hundreds of millions. The design did not change: Hahn's caribou and Machin's portrait carried on, so the only differences from the silver 1968 are the metal and the weight. Since then the magnet has been the easiest way to sort Canadian quarters. Anything that sticks is nickel or later plated steel, while a quarter that ignores the magnet is silver. In a year of two lookalike quarters, the nickel coin is the more common, outnumbering the silver one by about 17 million. It changed the quarter for good.
How to recognize it
The obverse has Machin's portrait of the queen wearing a tiara, with ELIZABETH II D·G·REGINA. The reverse is Hahn's caribou with CANADA, 25 CENTS and 1968. The nickel coin is identical in design to the silver 1968, so check the metal: a nickel quarter is attracted to a magnet and weighs 5.07 g. Its edge is reeded like the silver coin's. Next to a silver quarter the nickel version often looks slightly darker. If you have a 1968 that sticks to a magnet, this is your coin, the first of more than thirty years of nickel quarters. Size is unchanged at 23.88 mm.
1968 Nickel Canadian Quarter by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 1968 Nickel Canadian Quarter ranks 111th lowest of 147 Canadian quarter dates and varieties from 1870 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 2003 P Crowned Canadian Quarter (87.6 million); the next more common is the 1995 Canadian Quarter (89.2 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2000 Canadian Quarter with 434.1 million, about 4.9 times as many. The scarcest is the 1889 Canadian Quarter with 66,324, 1337 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1968 output was 1.8 times the 1967 figure and 1.5 times fewer than 1969. Other 1968 quarters: 1968 50% Silver Canadian Quarter (71.5 million).
Over the 1960s the Mint produced 540.6 million quarters across 11 dates and varieties; the 1968 Nickel Canadian Quarter accounts for 16% of that.
What to check on your 1968 Nickel Canadian Quarter
- Try a magnet. Nickel (99.9%) is magnetic, so a genuine 1968 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.
The 1968 nickel quarter is a face value coin in circulated condition. Its interest is historical: it is the first Canadian quarter without silver. Uncirculated examples from mint sets are easy to find and carry only a small premium. If you are building a type set, it pairs well with the 1968 silver quarter to show the change in a single year. Worn examples can simply be spent. A bright one from an old roll is a pleasant reminder of the year Canada gave up silver coins.
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 | 1968 |
| Circulation mintage | 88,686,931 |
| Composition | Nickel (99.9%) |
| Weight | 5.05 g |
| Diameter | 23.88 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Reeded |
Other 1968 Canadian quarters
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 50% Silver Canadian Quarter | 71,464,000 | Metal value |
Frequently asked questions
Is the 1968 nickel quarter worth anything?
A circulated 1968 nickel quarter is worth face value. It is the first Canadian quarter made without silver, which gives it historical interest, but 88,686,931 were struck, so it is common in every condition.
Why does a 1968 quarter stick to a magnet?
Because it is pure nickel, which is magnetic. Partway through 1968 the mint switched quarters from 50 percent silver to nickel. A 1968 quarter that does not stick is one of the earlier silver coins.
Mintage figures: Quarter (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.