Coin Value Contents Table
- 1. 2020-P American Samoa ATB Quarter Faceless Bat Error
- 2. 2020-D American Samoa ATB Quarter 98% Reverse Clad Missing
- 3. 2020-D Virgin Islands ATB Quarter Struck Thru Error
- 4. 2020-W Connecticut ATB Quarter Mint Error
- 5. 2020-P Vermont ATB Quarter Off-Centre Error
- 6. 2020-P Virgin Islands ATB Quarter Reverse Strike Through
- 7. 2020-W American Samoa ATB Quarter Obverse Strike Through
- 8. 2020-P Virgin Islands ATB Quarter DDR
- 9. 2020-W Connecticut ATB Quarter Reverse Ring Error
- 10. 2020-D Virgin Islands ATB Quarter Obverse Ring Error
- 11. 2020-P Vermont ATB Quarter Die Chip
In 2020, the US Mint struck five quarters as part of their ATB series (America the Beautiful). ATB coins featured national parks and monuments from the 50 states, Washington DC, and the 5 US territories. The 2020, the mint made quarters for American Samoa, the US Virgin Islands, Vermont, Connecticut, and Kansas. So let’s explore the 2020 Quarters Errors List.
1. 2020-P American Samoa ATB Quarter Faceless Bat Error
The 2020 American Samoa Quarter features a fruit bat, sometimes called a flying fox. It’s a megabat – meaning it’s larger than standard bats. It’s also vegetarian, feeding on flowers, fruits, and leaves. (For reference, most bat species eat insects). The flying fox is hanging upside down while holding her pup. They represent the National Park of American Samoa.
The error on this coin is a strike through or possibly a die break, also known as a cud. It blurs the face of the mother bat, obscuring her eyes and cheeks. The coin ranges from $50 to $500 in the secondary market. Multiple samples of this mint mistake exist though the position of the strike through varies from the whole face to the left eye. The size determines the exact price.
2. 2020-D American Samoa ATB Quarter 98% Reverse Clad Missing
Quarters are clad coins. Their core is pure copper while the outer layers are 75% Copper and 25% Nickel. This is known as the Johnson Sandwich since the copper core is sandwiched by the clad layers. It was introduced in 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson to battle the silver shortage of the early 60s. This shortage had citizens hoarding silver coins due to price spikes.
But with clad coins, the outer layer sometimes comes off during the minting process. It may be a strip or crack on the silvery surface that exposes the copper below, or the entire side can be absent. On this American Samoa Quarter from the Denver Mint, 98% of the reverse (i.e. the tails side) is gone so it has a silvery front and copper back. The MS 66 coin was $2,499.
3. 2020-D Virgin Islands ATB Quarter Struck Thru Error
Salt River Bay represents the US Virgin Islands on their ATB Quarter. And this particular one is struck thru. Sometimes referred to as a strike through error, it’s when an object gets between the die and the planchet aka the blank. This foreign item might get stuck on the coin or it could fall off and leave a stencil, shadow, or trace of its presence. This coin was retained.
Meaning the staple that was struck onto the coin stayed on the coin, raising its value. The strike through also peeled off the clad layer so you can see stripped copper over the damage. The retained metal appears as a scratch across George Washington’s jawline and it does make you cringe a little since it seems so painful! This drastic mint mistake was worth $180.
4. 2020-W Connecticut ATB Quarter Mint Error
2020 marked the 75th anniversary of World War II ending. To commemorate this, the US Mint made 2M Quarters at West Point that had a special V75 privy mark. They were all circulating coins aka business strikes or regular strikes. But the combination of the privy mark, the W Mint Mark, and the relatively low mintage made them valuable for resale.
This specific coin had even more going for it. It had a mint error that obscured part of George Washington’s eye and forehead, it was issued on the first day these coins were released, it was sent to NGC for verification, and it was in extremely good condition. This MS 66 Weir Farm Quarter was $390. The Weir Farm is a national historic site representing Connecticut.
5. 2020-P Vermont ATB Quarter Off-Centre Error
In the ATB Quarter Series, Vermont is represented by the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller Park. The coin shows a girl planting a Norway Spruce. There’s a full-grown tree in front of her, and she’s using a trowel to cover the seedling’s roots with soil. This mint mistake involved the position of the blank. The feeder fingers didn’t push it into the ideal spot between the dies.
As a result of the displaced planchet, the design on the coin was struck slightly off-center and left a portion of the coin unmarked. It isn’t a very big section though, and off-center coins are typically evaluated by the percentage of empty space. The planchet veered left so part of the word Rockefeller is on the rim. It only sold for $126, though that’s still quite a lot for a 25c.
6. 2020-P Virgin Islands ATB Quarter Reverse Strike Through
We’ve already seen a Salt River Bay National Park Quarter on this list, but here’s another sample. This time, it’s a reverse strike through, meaning the contaminant slipped between the blank and the back die. For reference, the obverse is the technical numismatic term for the heads side of a coin while the reverse is the back or tails side. That explains the error.
Here, the struck thru metal was retained. The part of the planchet around the wire was scraped off so there’s a stripe of bright copper amid the shiny silver surface of the coin. Or maybe the wire itself was made of copper. It struck thru the lower part of the coin, cutting through the water and the date. Philadelphia Quarters are common but this one was $560.
7. 2020-W American Samoa ATB Quarter Obverse Strike Through
The Faceless Bat error is a popular strike through on American Samoa Quarters. And as we said earlier, it has variations including one-eye or a missing forehead. But that’s not the only valuable error on this coin. Some samples have a strike through on the obverse. These show up as scooped-out metal on Washington’s mouth or neck. In MS 65 they sell for about $200.
But the coin had additional elements that raised its value. It has the privy mark – V75 inside the Rainbow Pool. This pool is part of the George Washington World War II Memorial. The coin was minted at West Point, and it was released during the first week of issue. Both NGC and PCGS put special labels on these coins, namely Early Release or First Week of Discovery.
8. 2020-P Virgin Islands ATB Quarter DDR
Mint mistakes come in different contexts. Sometimes, an identical error appears on multiple coins. That’s called a variety, and it can occur when – for example – a doubled die transfers that flaw to multiple coin batches. Also, as we mentioned, sending your coin for certification at NGC, PCGS, or ANACS can verify the mint error and raise the resale value of your coin.
But other experts can verify errors too, such as John Wexler. He validated the error on this Salt River Bay coin as a W-DDR or doubled-die reverse and found over a dozen samples. The error appears as an extra shadow or line on the right leg of the M in JFM, the initials of Chief Mint Engraver Joseph Menna. The RaM for designer Richard Masters got doubled as well.
9. 2020-W Connecticut ATB Quarter Reverse Ring Error
When you have a coin with a verified error, it’s easier to describe and/or identify it. And when coins first come out, numismatists (people who study, collect, and trade coins, tokens, etc.) will scour them for errors. This is because errors discovered within the first 30 days after release are given an FS Number. It means First Strike and adds a lot of resale value.
However, even if your error is unknown, you can still sell it on eBay for good money. Just use clear pictures and simple descriptions. For instance, this Weir Farm Quarter has a strange curve or scratch on the back. It goes from the state to the tree line and looks like a doubling of the outer ring. It must be a planchet-level mint mistake because the dent is below the date.
10. 2020-D Virgin Islands ATB Quarter Obverse Ring Error
You probably haven’t heard the phrase ‘ring error’ before. We’ve chosen it to describe the mint mistake above, and here’s an example of the error but on a different coin. This time, it showed up on a Salt River Bay Quarter representing the US Virgin Islands. And on this one, the error is on the heads side rather than the tails. Ironically, it’s more noticeable that way.
The front of ATB Quarters doesn’t usually have an outer ring, but this one does. It could be a reverse die cap or a brockage error that made the outer ring bleed through without altering or transferring the red mangrove tree design. Or it could be the result of stacked coins under heat or pressure, pressing the outer ring from the quarter above onto the obverse below it.
11. 2020-P Vermont ATB Quarter Die Chip
As we noted earlier, the Vermont ATB Quarter is a sculpture representing Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park. The hyphenated names identify three people who owned the property. Conservationist George Perkins Marsh grew up there, but it was later owned by Frederick Billings, then by Mary French Rockefeller. Hence the Land Stewardship.
The coin was designed by Donna Weaver and sculpted by Michael Gaudioso. But since it’s such a textured coin, you have to study it carefully under a coin microscope or jeweler’s loupe to find any mistakes. That’s how one numismatist spotted a die chip on the young girl’s tummy. Die chips and die breaks aka cuds happen when the dies are older and falling apart.
