2003 P Crowned Canadian Quarter

Quick answers

Is the 2003 P Crowned Canadian Quarter rare?

No. 87.6 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.

How many 2003 P Crowned Canadian quarters were made?

87,647,000 were struck for circulation.

What is the 2003 P Crowned Canadian Quarter made of?

Nickel-plated steel. It weighs 4.4 g and measures 23.88 mm.

Is the 2003 P Crowned Canadian Quarter still legal tender?

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

How to recognize it

The 2003 P Crowned Canadian Quarter is round, 23.88 mm across and nickel-plated steel.

2003 P Crowned Canadian Quarter by the numbers

Measured by how many were made, the 2003 P Crowned Canadian Quarter ranks 110th lowest of 147 Canadian quarter dates and varieties from 1870 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 1976 Canadian Quarter (86.9 million); the next more common is the 1968 Nickel Canadian Quarter (88.7 million).

For scale, the most common is the 2000 Canadian Quarter with 434.1 million, about 5 times as many. The scarcest is the 1889 Canadian Quarter with 66,324, 1321 times fewer than this one.

Compared with the dates around it, the 2003 output was 1.8 times fewer than 2002 and 2 times fewer than 2004. Other 2003 quarters: 2003 P Uncrowned Canadian Quarter (66.9 million).

Over the 2000s the Mint produced 2.66 billion quarters across 12 dates and varieties; the 2003 P Crowned Canadian Quarter accounts for 3.3% of that.

What to check on your 2003 P Crowned Canadian Quarter

• Try a magnet. Nickel-plated steel is magnetic, so a genuine 2003 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.

Plated steel quarters, 2001 to 2022

To cut costs, the Royal Canadian Mint moved the quarter to steel plated with nickel. The new coins weigh 4.4 g against 5.07 g for pure nickel and carry a small P, for plated, below the portrait. In 2001 the mint made both kinds, so that year comes in nickel and in plated steel. Both are magnetic, which surprises people, so weight and the P are the reliable ways to sort them. In 2006 the P gave way to the mint's own maple leaf logo.

Portraits changed too. Every 2002 coin carries the double date 1952-2002 for the queen's Golden Jubilee. In 2003 Susanna Blunt's uncrowned portrait replaced de Pédery-Hunt's crowned one, so 2003-P quarters come both ways. The quarter also became Canada's favorite coin for commemoratives: the 2004 poppy quarter was the first colored coin issued for general circulation and later years brought designs for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games, the War of 1812 and Canada's 150th anniversary.

Most quarters from these years are face value coins with mintages in the tens or hundreds of millions. The 2001 nickel quarter, at 8,415,000, is the one to check for, along with the 2003-P crowned and uncrowned pair if you want a complete set. Weigh any 2001 that has no P. Commemoratives with color draw more attention when clean and unscratched. Queen Elizabeth died in September 2022, ending a run of her portraits on the quarter that began in 1953.

Mintage chart

Specifications

Other 2003 Canadian quarters