Quarter quest produces endless possibilities

McCOOK, Neb. - Quarters are so fun to search through. That means a lot if I’m saying it, because I haven’t found a single thing searching through quarters.

You might be wondering why I still love it. It’s because of the dozens of errors, silver quarters, and different designs that you can find. There are four types of quarters that you are likely to find including the American Women Quarters, America the Beautiful Quarters, State Quarters, and Washington Quarters.

Starting with the American Women Quarters, there is not much to look for since these are the most recent kind of quarters. In fact, these quarters will be minted until 2025. Mintage started in 2022 with five designs being released each year.

America the Beautiful Quarters were minted from 2010-2021. Every 2019 and 2020 quarter has a chance to have a W mint mark which is worth $20.

Quarters minted between 2010-2012 are also lower mintage coins. There was also a series of silver 5oz coins that have two main differences from the original quarters. First is the size-which is 3 inches in diameter, and second is the print on the side that tells the amount and purity of the silver.

Next are the State Quarters that I mostly look through for different errors.

For example, there is the 1999 Delaware “Spitting Horse” error where it seems that the horse is spitting because of a mint crack error. Then there is the 2004 Wisconsin “Low Leaf” error which is when there is an extra leaf on the lower left part of the corn above the cheese wheel.

During the year 2009, they minted U.S. Territories quarters for the District of Colombia, Virgin Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and American Samoa. The State Quarters were minted from 1999-2009. The states on the coins are commemorated in the order of their entrance into statehood and the governors of each state had to approve of the design that represented their state on the coin.

There were also two different kinds of proofs for State Quarters. First are the regular clad proofs, then there are the silver proofs. The silver proofs are worth considerably more.

Last are the Washington Quarters. What most people look for is silver, but there are also some other things to find. 1983 quarters never came out in mint sets, so if these coins are found in good condition, hold on to them. In MS-63 condition, they are worth $8. In MS-65 condition they are worth $15. There are also the clad proofs and silver clad (silver coated) quarters.

Finally, we come to the silver. Just like dimes, every year before 1965, quarters were silver. Another way to tell if an American coin is silver is to look at the edge. If it is a silvery-grey color, then it is most likely silver. The reason I specify “American” is because some foreign coins have these colored edges but are not silver. For example, all Canadian quarters have a silver-looking edge, but only coins before 1968 have much silver in them.

You can probably see why I love searching through quarters. There are endless possibilities with them.