WOW !  If there ever was a series of coins that, - Let's Say, "A bunch of error collectors all got together and decided to create", it would have to be Washington Quarters! This collection has a little bit of everything!  Rare dates, 1932 D & S; both with tiny mintages in the 400,000's, not to mention nine other dates of three million or less that sat around for seventy years - "Just Wearing Out" - before anybody figured-out that they were pretty darn scarce in grades above AG!  There are at least five - Easily Identifyable - Overmintmark issues (next best thing to overdates), 1939 D/S; 1949 D/D/S; 1950 S/D and D/S; and newly discovered 1953 D/S. There are two others, 1946 D/S, and 1951 D/S still unconfirmed by ANA. Who knows? . . .there may even be more not yet detected!  In 1932 & 1934, there are also at least six variations of Light / Medium / Heavy Motto coins, and on the 1934, one variety of "W" (We) with a high/low center stroke! Other notable varieties include 1936, 1943, 1956, and 1962 D/Horiz D coins, and several "Knob Tail S", and "Trumpet Tail S" types. For an error collector, "THIS IS HEAVEN"!

BUT JUST WAIT ! - We haven't talked about the DOUBLED DIES YET !  There have been no less than thirty different Doubled Die Obverse or Reverse issues identified to date. Of these, at least ten are visible to the eye, and another 5-7 are easily visible under low magnification. In this group, I'm NOT  including ANY of those ridiculous coins that some "NUT CASES" always seem to be trying to sell, - You know, the ones that you need 100x microscope, high intensity lights, and a really great imagination to see! In the long run, when it comes to double-dies, if they are not easily recognizable, they are virtually worthless.  The MAJOR DOUBLED DIE coins are the 1934/34 ddo; the 1942-D ddo; and the 1943-S ddo. These coins should be considered "KEYS", every bit as important as the 1932 D&S. They are of a category of double-die error as important as the 1916/16 Buffalo nickel and the 1955/55 and 1972/72 Lincoln Cents. These coins should sustain the greatest growth and popularity. They all are rare, all with mintages well below 250,000! In addition, the 1934, 1942-D, and 1943-S coins have all had 60+ years of hard circulation (other than pennies, quarters are most used coins in circulation) to wear out or be lost or destroyed. In addition to normal wear, keep in mind that silver coins of these years were considered "common dates" and many of the survivors were lost to the silver smelters (50-60% of remaining coins as of 1965) between 1970-82 for the values of their silver and copper contents.

There are three more groups of Doubled Die issues that should be taken seriously: 

       1)    The first group consists of some well known dates. These are Red Book varieties that, although they have high "book values", the lower grade coins seldom sell for those prices. They are the 1937 ddo, and the 1943 ddo. Both of these issues are rare (Red Book variety only).  The 1943 ddo is much stronger and  easier to identify than the 1937 ddo. I am told that both varieties are considerably  underpriced in better grades. 

       2)    This next group of doubled dies are true rarities! They each should command prices above $300 in grades as low as VG10. Only a  few collectors are even aware that they exist. They are the 1936 ddo, 1937-S ddo,  the 1940-D ddo, and the 1776-1976-D Bicentennial ddo. These pieces are just as bold as the ones listed as MAJOR Double-Dies, but exceptionally rare! - Probably fewer than 200 pieces of each  known, and less than 50 pieces of the Bicentennial issue. 

      3)    The last group consists of several scarce, or lesser known coins. The 1941 ddo; 1942 ddr; 1944-S ddo; 1945 ddo; 1950-D ddr; 1963 ddo; 1963-D ddo; 1964-D ddr; and the 1967 ddo. Several of these coins should be taken seriously - especially the 1941 ddo, 1964-D ddr, and the 1967 ddo. These three are very easy to see and people will usually collect varities that are easily visible. 

There are certainly other ddo/ddr coins that are less obvious, and almost certainly more will be identified. When silver coinage ceased, there were transitional reverse varieties "muled" with 1963-65 obverses creating more varieties. Additionally, the San Francisco Mint struck both clad and silver proof coins several years. With such enormous quantities of coins being produced each year, the opportunity for a rare "error" is much more likely than a low mintage regular issue.  

After all of this variety, as if this wasn't enough, the Good Lord was kind enough to smile down on us one more time in 1999, .  .  . S T A T E H O O D    Q U A R T E R S !  !  !  Just when you thought it couldn't POSSIBLY get any better .  .  . WOW !

If you found this guide interesting or helpful in any way, I would greately appreciate your taking a few moments to check the YES box at the bottom of this page. All information sources are available upon request. (mintex03)