Usually, the older a coin is, the higher its selling price. But as a recent coin collector, you might not have access to antiques or vintage dates. Luckily, modern coins can be worth something too. It may only be a few hundred dollars, but that’s still a lot for a penny, dime, or nickel. So let’s look at the most valuable modern quarters as we dig into their histories.
Most Valuable Modern Quarters Worth Money
1. 2010 Hot Springs Arkansas NP Washington Quarter
First, we have to agree on what coins count as modern. In the resale space, an antique is an item that’s at least a century old while a vintage collectible is 50 to 99 years. So technically, all Washington Quarters are modern – they’ve only been around since 1932. That’s our focus.
- Year: 2010
- Series: America the Beautiful National Parks + Monuments – Hot Springs Arkansas
- Mint Mark: None (Philadelphia)
- Grade: MS 69
- Date of Sale: 15th November 2012
- Price: $999
We’ll look at coins as recent as 2022 and even some 2023s if we can find them. As part of our analysis, we’ll explore various series. These sets include America the Beautiful aka National Parks + Monuments, American Women, 50 State Quarters, and DC + Territories Quarters.
Check More Details About 2010 Quarter
2. 1981-S Proof Deep Cameo Washington Quarter
Every quarter minted since 1932 has had George Washington on the heads side (aka the obverse). But the tails side – or reverse – changed several times. And even that Washington portrait had three different versions, each with an interesting tale behind it, so let’s begin.
- Year: 1981
- Series: Washington Quarter
- Mint Mark: San Francisco
- Grade: PR 70 DCAM
- Date of Sale: 29th November 2007
- Price: $2,530
For reference, any image, animal, bust, or sculpture on a coin is called its device while the words are known as mottos or legends. And the earliest George Washington device ended up being the latest. It was designed back in 1931, but it wasn’t placed on the quarter until 2022.
Check 1981 Quarter History, Variety Price Chart, and Errors List
3. 1984-P Clad Type 2 Washington Quarter Business Strike
In 1924 and again in 1930, Congress formed official committees to plan for the events of the Washington Bicentennial. The milestone marked 200 years since George Washington’s birth, a Founding Father who became the 1st US President. People wanted a commemorative coin.
- Year: 1984
- Series: Washington Quarter
- Mint Mark: Philadelphia
- Grade: MS 67
- Date of Sale: 4th February 2016
- Price: $1,293
But at the time, celebratory coins were costing the government too much money and the current president – Herbert Hoover – vetoed the idea. Instead, the warring parties settled on a circulating coin. They wanted a Half Dollar but they agreed on a Quarter, for just one year.
Check 1984 Quarter History, Variety Price Chart, and Errors List
4. 1963-D Silver Washington Quarter Regular Strike
The mint and the committee ran a contest to design the coin, and the winner was Laura Gardin Fraser. Incidentally, her husband was her former art teacher, the famous sculptor James Earle Fraser. He was known for – among other things – designing the Buffalo Nickel.
- Year: 1963
- Series: Washington Quarter
- Mint Mark: Denver
- Grade: MS 68
- Date of Sale: 31st August 2022
- Price: $24,000
Laura had her own valid reputation as a sculptor. She designed the Oregon Trail Memorial Half Dollar back in 1926 and collaborated with her husband on many more coins and medals. But for some reason, her winning Washington sculpture was shot down on the coin.
Check 1963 Quarter History, Variety Price Chart, and Errors List
5. 1999-S Delaware Proof Deep Cameo Washington Quarter
Instead, Andrew W. Mellon, the Treasury Secretary, picked a design by John Flanagan. That portrait remained on the Washington Quarter until 2021. Then on the American Women Quarters launched in 2022, Laura Gardin Fraser’s design was finally placed on the 25-cent.
- Year: 1999
- Series: State Quarters – Delaware
- Mint Mark: San Francisco
- Grade: PR 70 DCAM
- Date of Sale: 29th November 2007
- Price: $1,323
In between, Flanagan’s design was tweaked by William Cousins to allow other elements to fit on the coin. So while most quarters credit Flanagan with JF on the obverse, coins from 2022 onward have LGF while those from 1999 to 2021 have both JF and WC. The reverses differ.
Check 1999 Quarter History, Variety Price Chart, and Errors List
6. 1965 Type 2 Clad Washington Quarter Business Strike
Almost every milestone coin was designed by a different artist. The initials on the tails side of these coins reflect that fact. They range from Elana Hagler to Charles L. Vickers. The changes in design affected the sometimes puzzling position of mint marks on Washington Quarters.
- Year: 1965
- Series: Washington Quarter
- Mint Mark: None (Coin Shortage)
- Grade: GEM BU
- Date of Sale: 19th January 2005
- Price: $12,650
It was always on the lower right obverse, but based on the bust, this location was framed on the right of Washington’s ponytail, under the date below his chin, or below the motto In God We Trust. As you study the most valuable modern quarters, keep track of this positioning.
Check 1965 Quarter History, Variety Price Chart, and Errors List
7. 1962-D Silver Washington Quarter Regular Strike
Let’s talk a bit about the series. Since the Washington Quarter was only meant to mint for one year, none were made in 1933. But the coin proved so popular that it was reintroduced in 1934 and has been coined ever since. Those earliest coins had an eagle on the coin’s reverse.
- Year: 1962
- Series: Washington Quarter
- Mint Mark: Denver
- Grade: MS 67
- Date of Sale: 18th April 2012
- Price: $18,400
Later coin reverses depicted a drummer boy, crossing the Delaware (2021), symbols for the 50 states (1999 to 2008), images representing Washington DC + five US territories (2009), sites for 56 national parks + monuments (2010 to 2021), and American Women (from 2022).
Check 1962 Quarter History, Variety Price Chart, and Errors List
8. 2017-P Effigy Mounds Iowa NP Washington Quarter
On older Washington Quarters, mint mistakes like DDOs (Doubled Die Errors) and RPMs (re-punched mint marks) would add value to the coin. But modern coins are minted digitally, which eliminates most of these errors. So the coin is more likely to have missing metal layers.
- Year: 2017
- Series: America the Beautiful National Parks + Monuments – Effigy Mounds Iowa
- Mint Mark: Philadelphia
- Grade: MS 70
- Date of Sale: 14th September 2021
- Price: $1,806
Since 1965, most circulating American coins are clad cupronickel, with a copper core coated in nickel. Others, like the penny, have a zinc center topped with copper. On these coins, the clad layer sometimes slips off producing two-tone modern coins that are worth a lot of cash!
Check More Details About 2017 Quarter
9. 2022-P Maya Angelou Washington Quarter Regular Strike
That said, why did these contemporary coins have to change their appearance? Well, early coins were gold or silver. But as the prices of these precious metals fluctuated, it was cheaper to use base metals. This is important because currency has two functions in any economy.
- Year: 2022
- Series: American Women – Maya Angelou
- Mint Mark: Philadelphia
- Grade: MS 67+
- Date of Sale: 5th February 2023
- Price: $2,735
One, it offers a trusted and consistent trade tool. Two, it provides revenue for governments through seignorage. This is the difference between the production cost and the face value of a coin or note, and it serves as a sort of tax for the mint. The higher the seignorage, the better.
Check More Details About 2022 Quarter Errors List
10. 1964-D Silver Washington Quarter Regular Strike
As economies expanded, coins became less and less relevant because you couldn’t buy much with them. But the US government still needed the seignorage, so they developed ideas that would encourage citizens to use and collect modern coins. The State Quarters were the first.
- Year: 1964
- Series: Washington Quarter
- Mint Mark: Denver
- Grade: MS 68
- Date of Sale: 31st March 2021
- Price: $38,400
This invited Americans to collect at least 50 new coins, giving the government tons of fresh revenue. National Parks + Monuments added another 56 to the set, not forgetting the 6 DC + Territories coins. Then for the socially conscious, American Women coins added 20 more.
Check 1964 Quarter History, Variety Price Chart, and Errors List
11. 1976-S Silver Washington Quarter Business Strike
The American Women Quarters were aimed at celebrating minorities of note. Among others, they featured the first African American, Asian American, Latinx, and LGBTQ+ woman on US currency. These coins invited Americans to learn more about the women’s achievements.
- Year: 1976
- Series: Bicentennial Quarter 1776-1976
- Mint Mark: San Francisco
- Grade: MS 69
- Date of Sale: 9th June 2019
- Price: $19,200
The program started in 2022 and is set to run until 2025. The first fifteen women have already been selected and confirmed, with the first ten coins currently in circulation. And the celebrants range from writers and astronauts to judges, activists, film stars, and ballerinas.
Check 1976 Quarter History, Variety Price Chart, and Errors List
12. 1982-P Washington Quarter Regular Strike
Why were quarters chosen for these milestones while the other denominations retained their original designs? Well, from the day they were introduced in 1932, Washington Quarters got the public vote. They were widely hoarded at first but later circulated better than any other.
- Year: 1982
- Series: Washington Quarter
- Mint Mark: Philadelphia
- Grade: MS 68
- Date of Sale: 9th September 2019
- Price: $10,200
Even today, the quarter is the most commonly used coin in regular commerce. This ensured the milestone quarters would achieve wide, consistent circulation, keeping the seignorage coffers heavy. It would also guarantee a broader reach for the causes these coins celebrated.
Check 1982 Quarter History, Variety Price Chart, and Errors List
13. 1943 DDO (Doubled Die Obverse) Washington Quarter Business Strike
You might not have considered this, but why is the coin called a quarter? In the old days, when we were still a colony, we used British money. The cash rates were quite complex, with 20 shillings making a pound, 12 pence making a shilling, and 2 shillings making a florin!
- Year: 1943
- Series: Washington Quarter
- Mint Mark: None (Philadelphia)
- Error: Doubled Die Obverse
- Grade: MS 67
- Date of Sale: 22nd March 2020
- Price: $22,250
The American system opted for decimals – fractions of a hundred – that were later adapted in the UK and elsewhere. So 100 cents made a dollar, which meat 25 cents were a quarter of a dollar, shortened to a quarter. This was equivalent to the commonly used Two Bits of Silver.
Check 1943 Quarter History, Variety Price Chart, and Errors List
14. 1942 Proof Washington Quarter
To explain, in the colonial years, people largely used Spanish Dollars. These were eight-sided silver coins that could physically be sliced into eight pieces called bits. Later, Two Bits or Two Pieces of Eight were a popular price point that got co-opted once American Dollars appeared.
- Year: 1942
- Series: Washington Quarter
- Mint Mark: None (Philadelphia)
- Grade: PR 69
- Date of Sale: 1st December 2020
- Price: $16,800
As the story goes, you could get a haircut for two bits. This is allegedly the meaning behind the common knocking pattern. It starts with one tap, four shorter taps, and a pause before the last two taps. It represented a local phrase ‘Shave and a haircut, two bits.’ Or so they say!
Check 1942 Quarter History, Variety Price Chart, and Errors List
15. 1932-D Washington Quarter Regular Strike
Following that logic, a dime or 10c coin was sometimes referred to as a Short Bit while 15c made a Long Bit. For people still using Spanish coins, One Bit or One Piece of Eight did exist, but it had no coin equivalent in the American Exchange System. People preferred Quarters.
- Year: 1932
- Series: Washington Quarter
- Mint Mark: Denver
- Grade: MS 66
- Date of Sale: 1st April 2008
- Price: $143,750
Interestingly, while bits left the coin world, they were still used in the Stock Exchange. Until June 1997, the NSE listed their prices at 1/8 of a dollar, which is One Bit. From July, that changed to 1/16 of a dollar, or half a bit. Then in 2001, they finally switched to decimal units.
Check 1932 Quarter History, Variety Price Chart, and Errors List
16. 1971-S Proof Deep Cameo Quarter
With older coins, the longer you keep it, the more it’ll be worth. It’s also crucial to study key dates and resell your coins during anniversaries. But these days, the most valuable modern quarters are sold on eBay because they don’t have any precious metals or intrinsic value.
- Year: 1971
- Series: Washington Quarter
- Mint Mark: San Francisco
- Grade: PR 69 DCAM
- Date of Sale: 29th November 2007
- Price: $7,475
That’s why you should try to spot expensive errors early on. When a coin is released, buy some coin rolls, note the mint mistakes, and list them before too many appear in the wider public. Once a hundred coins are found with the same error, the price will drop considerably.
Check About 1971 Quarter History, Variety Price Chart, and Errors List
Hello. What is any, I have one ore more of these coin. Who can I sell it to??
I have a 1982 quarter Philadelphia mint.
I have the Delaware 1999 quarter, is it advised I save it or sell it? If sell it who should I sell too and for how much? Mine is also painted very very well if that changes anything.
I have a 1952 silver quarter. And a 1964 silver quarter