
So finding old coins with visible mint marks (since they usually get worn away over time) is a great place to start. However, there are a few of these coins that are worth more than your common Susan B.


Although you do not find them in circulation very often, they are quite common and inexpensive. Some mints aren't around anymore (like Carson City or New Orleans), while others only minted collector coins and proof sets. Anthony Dollar coins from 1979 through 1981 and then again in 1999. The single capital letters you find on American coins coincide with the mint that made them. Extra images, doubled letters, and indentations are all things to keep an eye out for. Since quarters are so big, they're the easiest common currency to look for errors. Collectors love rare pieces, and nothing shouts one of a kind like mistakes minted on American coins. So, at the very least, any quarter with a date pre-1965 is worth its weight in silver. One standout characteristic for American quarters is that all of them made before 1965 were 90% silver. With a little guidance and the tenacity to sift through handfuls of coins, you'll be able to pick out the noteworthy ones from the mundane. People have been collecting them for generations, but you don't have to be a legacy coin collector to find something special in your pocket change. 90 percent silver quarters wouldn’t resurface until 1992, upon the launch of the annual silver proof set offering.Valuable Things to Look for in American QuartersĪmerican quarters are somes of the most recognizable coins in the world. Regular proof sets – and mintmarks – resumed in 1968.Īfter 1964, silver quarters would not be struck again until 1975, when 40 percent silver proof and uncirculated Bicentennial quarters were offered to coin collectors in special sets. Further punishing coin collectors for the coin shortage, which was caused by silver hoarders, not numismatists, the Mint would not offer proof sets from 1965 thorough 1967, instead offering special mint sets, which mainly coins of lesser quality than proof coinage. It would also cease placing mintmarks on coins in an attempt to discourage collecting. *Values are for coins in a grade of Extremely Fine-40, unless otherwise noted.īeginning in 1965, the United States Mint would begin making quarters from a 75 percent copper, 25 percent nickel composition. There have been small variations up unto 1999, and just one year of non-minatage. Here’s a glance at how the mintages were spread across the Philadelphia and Denver mints, along with respective values: These are valuable mint error quarters that sold at auction for good money. The United States Mint responded by pushing out a total of well over 1 billion Washington quarters bearing a 1964 date.

This list is intended to be used by coin collectors as a tool to score some great coins at antique shops and maybe even estate sales. With fervor growing over the coming end of the silver Washington quarters, coin collectors and bullion hoarders alike were hanging onto millions of these coins. These quarters are worth more money than most people make in year, and some of them are worth more than the cost of a small rural house. This was due to the rising price of silver, with a value that exceeded face value of the coins that it was in. 1964 was the last year that 90 percent silver Washington quarters would be made for circulation.
