Wisconsin Error Quarters- Collecting Wisconsin Quarters

An error (or intentional variation, some say) on behalf of the US Mint may just make you a few hundred bucks or more if you're lucky. The state quarters, issued for every one of the country's 50 states, now feature a collectible flawed quarter from Wisconsin. This quarter features a stalk of corn on the tail side. In the collector's versions, this corn stalk has what appears to be an extra leaf.

This minor detail is making these quarters a rare commodity on the coin collection market. $500 or more is what collectors are paying for a misprinted Wisconsin leaf, and estimates have been made that this price can only go higher. As a matter of fact, a set of three of the quarters sold for nearly $1,100 recently in Arizona. (It should always be noted that coin prices are speculative and may decrease at any point.)

The extra leaf actually comes in two varieties. One quarter features the extra leaf pointing up. The other quarter features the extra leaf on the stalk itself. To check your Wisconsin quarters, be sure your tail side comes complete with a cow, a wheel of cheese, and a cornstalk with only two leaves on either side and two pieces of stalk pointing up on either side of the corn cob itself. If your quarter has an extra stalk pointing up (three in total) or an extra leaf on the left hand side (to make three in total), you might have one of the rare coins that collectors are so excited about.

A number of experts believe that neither of the quarters are an actual mistake. They believe that the mint in Denver printed each with a different mold, giving slight variety to coins. Specifically, those that were delivered in the Southwest United States, as the rare coins seem to only have been found in the Tucson, Arizona and San Antonio, Texas areas. None of the other state quarters that you may find in your collector's album have any mistakes or variations on them to date.