2003 P Uncrowned Canadian Quarter
The 2003 P Uncrowned Canadian Quarter is a Canadian quarter struck for circulation with 66.9 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 2003
- Circulation mintage
- 66,861,633
- Value band
- Face value
- Composition
- Nickel-plated steel
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 2003 P Uncrowned Canadian Quarter worth?
With 66.9 million made, the 2003 P Uncrowned 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 2003 P Uncrowned Canadian Quarter rare?
- No. 66.9 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 2003 P Uncrowned Canadian quarters were made?
- 66,861,633 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 2003 P Uncrowned Canadian Quarter made of?
- Nickel-plated steel. It weighs 4.4 g and measures 23.88 mm.
- Is the 2003 P Uncrowned Canadian Quarter still legal tender?
- Yes. Every Canadian quarter is legal tender at 25 cents.
The 2003 quarter in context
In 2003, fifty years after her coronation, Canada introduced a new portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt. It shows the queen without a crown, a softer and less formal look than Dora de Pédery-Hunt's crowned effigy, which had been used since 1990. Quarters with the new portrait were struck in nickel-plated steel with a P and 66,861,633 of them carry the 2003 date. The new effigy was unveiled that year and soon spread to every denomination.
Because the change came during the year, 2003 has both portraits. The mint also struck 87,647,000 P quarters with the old crowned portrait. That makes 2003 the year to look at the queen's head on every quarter: a crown means the earlier version, a bare head means the new one. Blunt's portrait went on to appear on Canadian quarters for the rest of the reign, which makes the 2003 uncrowned the first of a long series. Few years in Canadian coinage show two portraits of the same monarch side by side so clearly.
How to recognize it
Susanna Blunt's portrait of the queen faces right, bare-headed, with ELIZABETH II D·G·REGINA. The reverse is Hahn's caribou with CANADA, 25 CENTS and 2003. A small P on the obverse marks the plated steel composition. Compare with a crowned 2003: the uncrowned version shows the queen's hair with nothing on it, a noticeably simpler outline at the top of the head. The coin weighs 4.4 g, measures 23.88 mm and sticks to a magnet. On a worn coin, the outline of the hair is still enough to tell the two portraits apart. The legend is the same on both versions, so do not rely on it.
2003 P Uncrowned Canadian Quarter by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 2003 P Uncrowned Canadian Quarter ranks 100th lowest of 147 Canadian quarter dates and varieties from 1870 to 2024. The next scarcer is the 2001 P Canadian Quarter (55.8 million); the next more common is the 1968 50% Silver Canadian Quarter (71.5 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2000 Canadian Quarter with 434.1 million, about 6.5 times as many. The scarcest is the 1889 Canadian Quarter with 66,324, 1008 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 2003 output was 2.3 times fewer than 2002 and 2.7 times fewer than 2004. Other 2003 quarters: 2003 P Crowned Canadian Quarter (87.6 million).
Over the 2000s the Mint produced 2.66 billion quarters across 12 dates and varieties; the 2003 P Uncrowned Canadian Quarter accounts for 2.5% of that.
What to check on your 2003 P Uncrowned 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.
With more than 66 million struck, the 2003-P uncrowned is a face value coin. It is the first year of the Blunt portrait, which gives it a place in a portrait type set. Many collectors like to keep it beside the crowned 2003. Uncirculated examples add a small premium. Both 2003 versions turn up in change, so finding the pair costs nothing more than attention. Bright coins from rolls are plentiful, so there is no need to keep a scratched one.
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
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 25 cents |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 2003 |
| Circulation mintage | 66,861,633 |
| Composition | Nickel-plated steel |
| Weight | 4.4 g |
| Diameter | 23.88 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Reeded |
Other 2003 Canadian quarters
| Coin | Circulation mintage | Value band |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 P Crowned Canadian Quarter | 87,647,000 | Face value |
Frequently asked questions
Why do some 2003 Canadian quarters have a crown and some don't?
The portrait changed during 2003. Earlier coins show Dora de Pédery-Hunt's crowned queen, while later ones show Susanna Blunt's uncrowned portrait. Both versions were struck in nickel-plated steel with a P.
Who designed the uncrowned queen on Canadian quarters?
Susanna Blunt designed the uncrowned portrait introduced in 2003. It remained on Canadian quarters for the rest of Elizabeth II's reign, until Charles III's portrait arrived in 2023. That is about twenty years.
Mintage figures: Quarter (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.