Average State Quarter Grades Dropping

itsnotjustme

I dropped some of the quarter pop numbers in a spread sheet and did a little match last night. The average grade of state quarters has fallen off in 2003. I think part of this is due to the fact these coins are only from bags and rolls, not mint sets. Look at the IL-P and AL-D... these have 139 & 99 graded, and both have roughly twice as many MS64s as MS67s graded.

67.1 2002-P LA 25C
66.2 2002-D LA 25C
67.1 2002-P IN 25C
66.3 2002-D IN 25C
66.8 2002-P MS 25C
66.3 2002-D MS 25C
65.4 2003-P IL 25C
66.1 2003-D IL 25C
65.5 2003-P AL 25C
65.2 2003-D AL 25C

cladking

There is a lot of variability in the quality of the coins made for circulation and the
quality made for mint sets over the last several decades. The average quality of
mint set coins is almost always superior to the average quality of the ones made
for circulation, and the very best coins almost always go into mint sets. Other than
these there are few statements which will apply to the relative quality of the mint
set and other coins. Some coins are extremely difficult to find as gem in sets while
the same coin may not be particularly difficult in rolls. Quality can change very quick-
ly from one year or mint to the next. The mint has been getting consistently better
for three years now with mint set quality (and circulation issues)so it's likely this year
will also see some great coins in the sets, but this isn't a sure thing.

wondercoin

Brian: My guess is the grading will start shooting up once the mint set coins come back from submission. I believe 2002 was a landmark year for the Phila. Mint in terms of improving their quality. Denver was somewhat better as well, but really had trouble shipping out high quality nickels, halves and even some of the state quarters. Why would Phila. drop off quality in 2003 after "getting it right" in 2002? I personally see no logical reason, but, admittedly, sometimes logic isn't involved

Wondercoin

tgilliams

Very interesting, thought the quality was getting better.

itsnotjustme

Maybe it's the quality of the graders submitting the coins, not the coins themselves. On the AL-D, 44% of the coins graded are MS65!