The quarter, short for quarter dollar, is a Canadian coin worth 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 piece, but in practice it is usually called a "quarter", much like its American counterpart. In French, it is called a caribou or trente sous ("thirty sous", based on the old exchange rate). The coin is produced at the Royal Canadian Mint's facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba. History of composition From 1920 until 1967 the quarter contained 0.15 troy ounces of silver—one quarter as much as the silver dollar (0.60 ozt), one half as much as the 50-cent piece, and times more than the dime. Commemorative reverses Ordinarily featuring a caribou, the quarter has the most commonly altered reverse in Canada and is the usual venue for commemorative issues. In 2004, a quarter was issued in honour of Remembrance Day, featuring a corn poppy on the reverse, a traditional symbol in Canada of that day. This resulted in a bizarre international incident, in which American military contractors unfamiliar with the coin's design believed these coins were outfitted with nanotechnology designed for espionage. Single commemorative designs 1992: 125th anniversary of Confederation In 1992, to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Confederation, the Mint released twelve commemorative coins, one for each Canadian province and territory at the time. These were the inspiration for the US 50 State Quarters program of 1999–2008. Nunavut, which separated from the Northwest Territories seven years later in 1999, was honoured with a special $2 coin. 1999–2000: millennium quarters In April 1998, the Mint announced the "Millennium Coin Design Contest", a contest open to all Canadians to submit designs for twenty-four millennium quarters, one for each month of 1999 and 2000. The 1999 designs were meant to look back on Canada's past, while the 2000 designs looked to the future. While the 1999 coins were labeled with their month of issue, the 2000 coins were labeled with the relevant theme. 2005: Alberta and Saskatchewan centennials In 2005, to celebrate the centennials of the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, two commemorative quarters were issued. The public was given the opportunity to vote on the coin design through two toll-free phone numbers. There were four candidate designs for the Alberta quarter: Big Sky Country, Alberta's Natural Beauty, A Dynamic