By CoinWeek ….
Have you ever looked through your change, wondering if any of the coins you have might be valuable? Some of them are. And while they won’t necessarily make you rich, they are worth more than their face value of 25 cents. So, in the purest spirit of coin collecting, here are five modern U.S. quarters that you can find in change that are worth money.
San Francisco Mint Washington Quarters, 2012-Present
While the San Francisco Mint is best known for producing the United States Mint’s modern Proof coinage, it began minting circulation-strike quarters in 2012. Available through the Mint’s website, these quarters are sold in bags, rolls, and other similar product options only to collectors. But while they aren’t intended for circulation, some may occassionally end up in pocket change.
San Francisco Mint circulation strike quarters with good eye appeal can be bought on websites like eBay for $3 to $5 USD apiece.
2020-W National Park Quarters with Privy Mark
2020 was the penultimate year of the America the Beautiful Quarters Program. It was also the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. Under the leadership of Director David J. Ryder, the Mint placed a special 75th anniversary privy mark on collectors-only versions of circulation-strike quarters. The privy mark is in the shape of the Rainbow Pool, which is part of the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.. Inside of the “pool” is the inscription V75: a “V” for Victory and “75” for 75 years.
The Mint struck two million of these coins at the West Point Mint and so the “W” mint mark serves as yet another way to distinguish these quarters from regular issues.
The five America the Beautiful quarters issued in 2020 feature reverse designs honoring National Park of American Samoa, Weir Farm National Historic Site (Connecticut), Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve (Virgin Islands), Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park (Vermont), and Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve (Kansas).
Nice examples of 2020-W AtB quarters with the V75 privy mark go for about $25 to $30 each.
50 State Quarters in Mint State
The original multi-year, multi-design U.S. quarter program, the 50 State Quarters, started in 1999 and ended in 2008 (with District of Columbia and United States Territories quarters being issued in 2009). An immensely popular program, it introduced hundreds of thousands of Americans to the hobby of coin collecting. At the time, finding each new quarter design in pocket change was an exciting novelty, and pieces with good eye appeal were quickly pulled out of circulation.
Today, not only is it surprisingly hard to find 50 State quarters in change, period, but raw Mint State examples worth more money are downright scarce. Especially valuable are Gem Mint State (65 and above) specimens from the first year of the program–Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut–which go for an average price of $5.
50 State Quarter Errors & Varieties
Over time, coin collectors have become aware of a handful of error coins in the 50 State quarter series – the most famous example being the 2004-D Extra Leaf Wisconsin quarter, which itself comes in High and Low varieties. Extra Leaf Low examples go for about twice as much as Extra Leaf High examples, most likely because the extra leaf is visually more dramatic on the Low version.
But be careful looking for raw coins on websites like eBay, where prices for more mundane errors can vary wildly.
Mint State Bicentennial Quarters
Like the 50 State quarters, the Bicentennial quarter is an extremely popular coin that has encouraged numerous collectors to get involved in the hobby. First struck in 1975 to celebrate the Bicentennial of U.S. Independence in 1976, generations of collectors have faithfully pulled Bicentennial quarters, half dollars, and dollars from circulation. And being relatively well known among the general public, it is often the subject of clickbait content.
In today’s market, a Bicentennial quarter is worth $6 to $10 in Gem Mint State condition.
Gem 1969 Quarters
Among this short list of modern (clad) quarters worth money, the 1969 Washington quarter struck in Philadelphia is one of the hardest to find in Gem Mint State. Most examples are poorly struck, and most higher Mint State specimens originally came from Mint Sets. Appropriately graded, this condition rarity is worth about $20 to $30 in Gem and above.
CoinWeek’s Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker analyzed the 1969 quarter in greater depth back in 2012, calling it the “key date you don’t know about.”
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