a quarter is quite big but i have seem them harmlessly pass. assuming that he did indeed swallow a quarter. short of an x-ray a safe and inexpensive way to find out if your three year old has a metallic coin is with a metal detector. you can rent one or find out if you have a friend who may own one. if a metal detector can't get a signal he probably didn't swallow it. if he suddenly becomes constipated or vomits you may have to expose him to a very low level abdominal x-ray -- one view only (and it would not be harmful).
3 yr old son said he ate quarter 5 days ago. i've been checking his poop and still nothing now what? . my son came to me and said " he ate the money" i could not find the quarter anywhere. we did not see him eat it and he wasn't chocking. i did some research and we decided to wait to see if it passed on its own. it has now been 5 days and still nothing. i hate to expose my son to unnecessary x rays. he is acting completely normal (pooping eating playing) do i need t to bring him in or should we just roll with it. its hard because we don't know if he actually ate it.