NEWP! Revisting a Childhood Favorite with a Silver Bicentennial Quarter in MS68
airplanenut
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As a kid, no coin found in my change was more exciting than a bicentennial quarter. Much as I'm not a fan of moderns, I've always liked the Washington portrait (especially before the relief was worsened, and definitely before the state quarters totally ruined it), the dual date was unique, and I LOVED the drummer. I grew up in northern NJ surrounded by reminders of the colonial era, and the that drummer always got my imagination going. Finding one in change was rare enough that it was always exciting, but not so rare that it never happened. I probably got a few a year.
Some number of months ago, and I don't remember what prompted it, I thought about the coin again. I don't know when I last saw one, but all of a sudden, I really wanted to hold one again. I like the proofs, but I've really come to appreciate the satiny silver finish of some of the recent mint issues and decided the silver business strike would be my best bet. I settled on MS68 for an obvious reason: the most expensive ones of late have gone for about $50, and MS67s would be marginally cheaper. According the PCGS price guide, a 69 would cost over $10k. MS68 it is. You can buy these up all day long, but for some reason, even in 68 many seem to have water spots or something else untoward. For a common coin, I spent a lot of time looking for a nice one (and one not sold with a stock image) and finally got this one on eBay over the weekend. All-in, it cost a mere $31.99 shipped, and it was a rush of childhood nostalgia when I pulled it out of the package. No, it's not the typical coin I buy, but hey, sometimes it's the little things in life...
Comments
Nice looking quarter.
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
It looks terrific and I love this issue, as well.
I was in the grade school-middle school range when these came out and I found them fascinating. They were obviously common in change at that time, but I plucked out nice pieces left-and-right and eventually must have had $100 face value of the coins sitting in a bag in my bedroom. Of course, that bag of pieces plucked in the mid-and-late 70s is long gone, but I still adore the coins and your write-up brought back memories for, as you know, I also grew up in northern NJ and was surrounded by reminders of the Revolution. Even those old signs along the road with "Washington's Retreat Route" bring back fond recollections!
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Way cool, congrats
Congrats! That's a nice looking coin and I agree with you it is one that was, and is, fun to find in your change.
U.S. Type Set
Very nice coin.
I am guilty of still hoarding those even now while coming across the occassional one in my change. My kid returned quite a few of the halves to the bank as replacement in the rolls because I took the NIFC along with the 40% silver kennedy finds that he found and pulled during CRH.
Edited for spelling
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/u-s-coins/quarters/PCGS-2020-quarter-quest/album/247091
Really nice! What's going on with the "D" in God? Is that a reflection or doubling?
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
We must be of similar age because I remember the same! Nice coin.
I had well over a thousand of them in the early 80's. Kept every one I found.
It's just lighting--the area around the letters appears to be a slightly different texture/metal flow, and between that and the way various areas are lit or in shadow, you get the effect seen in the photo. It's not as pronounced in hand by any stretch, but moving the coin under light with a loupe, you can see the factors at play that led to the image looking as it does.
Same here, born in 78, these were scarce but not unheard of in the late 80s- early 90s.
I just counted all the quarters in my coffee can change bucket a few days ago, out of $88 in quarters i found one bicentennial.
I have put quite a few of these away in a coin box (well, a box that I use for coins
)... Not sure how many, but there are a lot of them. I always liked the design and the dual date. That is a very nice one you picked up. Cheers, RickO
Used to love finding these in circulation as a kid in the late 90s. They were exciting to find because of how different they looked from regular quarters.