25 Cents - Elizabeth II Royal Canadian Mounted Police

The 1973 RCMP quarter was issued to mark the centennial of the force, founded in 1873 as the North-West Mounted Police to assert federal authority over the newly acquired prairie territories ahead of anticipated American expansion. Two distinct obverse varieties exist for this year: a large bust of the Queen derived from the Machin portrait, carried over from earlier issues, and a smaller bust introduced mid-year — a distinction that matters considerably to variety collectors working this series.