1989 Canadian Quarter

Quick answers

Is the 1989 Canadian Quarter rare?

No. 119.8 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.

How many 1989 Canadian quarters were made?

119,796,307 were struck for circulation.

What is the 1989 Canadian Quarter made of?

Nickel (99.9%). It weighs 5.05 g and measures 23.88 mm.

Is the 1989 Canadian Quarter still legal tender?

Yes. Every Canadian quarter is legal tender at 25 cents.

How to recognize it

The 1989 Canadian Quarter is round, 23.88 mm across and nickel (99.9%).

1989 Canadian Quarter by the numbers

Measured by how many were made, the 1989 Canadian Quarter ranks 123rd lowest of 147 Canadian quarter dates and varieties from 1870 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 2013 Canadian Quarter (118.5 million); the next more common is the 1984 Canadian Quarter (121.7 million).

For scale, the most common is the 2000 Canadian Quarter with 434.1 million, about 3.6 times as many. The scarcest is the 1889 Canadian Quarter with 66,324, 1806 times fewer than this one.

Compared with the dates around it, the 1989 output was 1.5 times the 1988 figure and 3.8 times the 1990 figure.

Over the 1980s the Mint produced 1.06 billion quarters across 10 dates and varieties; the 1989 Canadian Quarter accounts for 11% of that.

What to check on your 1989 Canadian Quarter

• Try a magnet. Nickel (99.9%) is magnetic, so a genuine 1989 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.

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