25 Cents - Elizabeth II Canada Day

Issued for the Golden Jubilee year of Elizabeth II's accession, this coin was released as part of Canada Day celebrations in 2002 — the same year the Royal Canadian Mint rolled out a series of twelve commemorative quarters cycling through the calendar year. The transition to nickel-plated steel from pure nickel had been completed just years earlier, driven by rising base metal costs and the need to reduce production expense on high-volume circulation issues.

The 2002 Canada Day quarter saw wide distribution through retail channels rather than collector sets, meaning genuine uncirculated examples are less common than the mintage figures suggest.