The quarter is a Canadian coin, valued at 25 cents or one-fourth of a Canadian dollar. It is a small, circular coin of silver colour. According to the Royal Canadian Mint, the official name for the coin is the 25 cent coin, but in practice the term quarter is nearly universal.

In Canadian French, the quarter is commonly (and counter-intuitively) called a trente sous (a "thirty cents"). This is because the sou originally referred to a monetary unit used in France (and also New France), whereas today in Canadian French it means a Canadian cent, and somewhere in history 120 sous of New France came to be worth the equivalent of what eventually became the Canadian dollar. The exact exchange-rate mechanism by which this came to be is the subject of various occasionally contradictory theories. [http://www.radio-canada.ca/jeunesse/275allo/boite_reponses/reponses.asp?sect=boite&hor=off&no_cate=6&no_theme=54&no_quest=384

This coin has the most commonly altered reverse in Canada, being the usual venue for commemorative issues. These include:

• 1967: Canadian centennial; all coins had unique reverses, the 25 cent coin had a bobcat
• 1973: Centennial of the RCMP, depicting a mounted RCMP officer
• 1992: 125th anniversary of Confederation; 12 reverses, one for each province and territory.
• 1999: Millennium series; monthly issues (named by month), each with a theme from the previous millennium
• 2000: Millennium series continued; monthly themed issues (named by theme) for the coming millennium
• 2002: Double date commemorating the ascension Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II with the 135th years of National Pride maple leaf design. The coin was issued for 2 months starting Canada Day. Regular design exists as well featuring the same double date "1952-2002".
• 2004: Acadia issue; a 17th century sailing ship and the dates 1604-2004
• 2004: Colourized poppy image for Remembrance Day - This was the first coloured general circulation coin in the world.
• 2005: Alberta centennial, Saskatchewan centennial, "Year of the Veteran"
• 2006: Colourized pink ribbon, for breast cancer awareness

Since 2000, the RCM has been issuing colourized quarters on Canada Day with designs aimed to attract young collectors. As with other collector coins issued by the RCM, the Canada Day series coins are legal tender.

Coins of Canada