Some Coins I Received in Change This Week

A month has passed since I last wrote about the coins I received in change, and it’s been just as long since I paid for something in cash to received more. It was just over a decade ago when I cashed out a large jug of coins at a CoinStar machine and received a voucher for $400. At this rate, it will take the rest of my life to save up enough small change to fill rolls.

Fortunately, this past week I purchased something with cash and received 89¢ in change. The cashier had to open a quarter roll to pay out, which made the already long process even longer, but quickly dispensed with my 89¢ in the most direct way possible: three quarters, a dime, and four cents.

What can we learn about these coins, and are any of them collectible?

1968-D Washington Quarter

Condition: Fine Details | Collectibility in This Grade: Low

One of the first observations I made about quarters when I began collecting in 1985 was that you didn’t find quarters dated earlier than 1965 in circulation. I was nine years old at the time and had not yet learned that pre-1965 quarters were struck in 90% silver and were removed from circulation when the switch was made to copper-nickel clad.

In the years since, I’ve probably received no more than 10 silver quarters in change, and not one since the early 2000s.

The period immediately following the passage of the Coinage Act of 1965, which authorized this change in composition, was of great interest to numismatists. Leadership at the United States Mint had become leery of coin collectors, evem blaming them for the coin shortage of the early 1960s. One of the anti-collector countermeasures the Mint undertook was the removal of mintmarks on all coins dated 1965, ’66, and ’67. Mintmarks denote the location where a coin was struck. In 1968, to some fanfare, the Mint reintroduced mintmarks, which is why we know that this 1968-D Washington Quarter was struck at the Denver Mint.

By the mid-1980s, most ’65-’68 quarters in showed heavy wear and usually came with a dull grey appearance. This example is borderline Fine to Very Fine but is quite dirty. Hardly a coin one would keep, despite its age.

A 1968-D Washington Quarter in Mint State is worth about $2. This example is only worth 25¢.

2003-P Alabama State Quarter

Condition: About Uncirculated | Collectibility in This Grade: Low

The 50 State Quarters Program reignvigorated the coin-collecting hobby as the public eagerly awaited the release of each new design. Starting in 1999 with the Delaware Quarter, the United States Mint released five designs per year, honouring each state in the order of their admission into the Union.

Artistically, the 50 State Quarters were hit-and-miss. Some designs stood out, like the Vermont and Kentucky Quarters, while others more closely resembled Clip Art than professional work. I’d put the 2003 Alabama State Quarter in the Clip Art category as it shows a stiffly posed Helen Keller reading a book that has been printed in Braille, while generic vegetal wreath segments frame the image.

Other than Ron Guth, who listed this coin as the #2 in his 100 Greatest Women on Coins book, I can think of no other numismatic writer singing the praises of this design. The ridiculous modifications to John Flanagan’s effigy of George Washington that were undertaken starting in the mid-1990s didn’t help matters.

The example I got in my change was struck with dies in mid-to-late die state, as evidenced by the granular surfaces at and around Washington’s neck. Twenty-two years of circulation are apparent as the coin grades a solid AU50. On a good day, this coin would sell for about $1 in Mint State. In the present grade, it’s worth 25¢.

2022-P Nina Otero-Warren American Women Quarter

Condition: About Uncirculated | Collectibility in This Grade: Low

I did not support the push to place Laura Gardin Fraser’s rejected Washington design on the quarter when it was announced. I felt that, for too long, the Mint has focused on the artwork of the early 20th century when it could better serve the country by allowing talented artists to design coins that reflect the virtues of the country and its people today. I also believed that modern minting practices would not faithfully render Fraser’s design. On this point, I believe I’ve been partially