The 1988(p) Quarter Was Finally Graded In PCGS-MS67; That Leaves Just (3)...

wondercoin

Today, I got in on consignment, the 1988(p) Washington Quarter in PCGS-MS67, which was freshly graded as pop 1 at PCGS this week (the coin is already set aside for a customer). I believe 1988(p)
is the very last "hold out" in the clad series in the MS67 grade and now joins the ranks of a handful of other super tough pop 1 and pop 2 MS67 clad quarters. Also, 1932(d), 1932(s) and 1955(d) become the last Washington quarters from 1932-1998 to grade MS66 as the finest known grade. Of course, 1932(d) in MS67 is just a "dream coin" (just -1- MS66 at PCGS), while 1932(s) in MS67 is close to "dream grade" as well (just 4 coins in MS66 at PCGS). 1955(d) has surprised many as the last coin of the "final 3" to not achieve the MS67 grade. Frankly, if you would have asked me last year, I would have guessed 1934(d) as the last hold out for MS67 along with 1932(d)(s).

But, as surprising as it seems, until this week, the 1988(p) quarter rounded out the "final 4" of all 1932-1998 quarter dates to hold out as MS66 finest knowns. In the years ahead, I suspect 1988(p) will continue to be a very elusive clad quarter to obtain in MS67 quality.

Do you think coins like the 88(P) and 92(P) quarters will be considered "rarities" in the MS67 grade in the years ahead?

Wondercoin

braddick

Yes. There will be more made in 67, no doubt, but demand will also increase, lending to a larger collector base.

cladking

A lot of the clads are incredibly tough even in MS-65. The 88's certainly are tough
without a lot of little and big scratches in the mint sets. The '92-P may be more a-
vailable in gem but is not seen much even in choice gem. The '69 is probably tough-
er than these with both a good strike and clean surfaces. Apparently some '69's
have been found in rolls (which are truly scarce too!!!) as gems, but it would seem
unlikely that these are extremely well struck by virtue of the fact that so very few
circulation strike '69's were well struck. This runs throughout the series with various
dates which aren't available in rolls or aren't found nice in mint sets. The '83-P would
be another case in point. In the thousands of 83-P's I've seen there have been no
more than a few really welll struck coins (most of these have been at least lightly cir-
culated). Mark free examples of unc coins are very tough. There are no mint sets and
very few rolls leading one to believe that my experience would be near universal; that
there are no or few gems.

If one isn't satisfied with the impossibilities of locating the regular issues in gem then
he can go after he true rarities which is the varieties. Most of these don't exist in mint
sets and finding even the rolls to look for them can be challenging. Few of these will
exist in gem and several may not even exist in unc.

So yes. There will be several clad quarters which will be seen as rare in the future.
They will not all be condition rarities though some of the more interesting pieces will
be. Those assembling collections of these in any grade will find surprises. Please just
be sure to mention them to me as you find them.

kieferscoins

I think they will be very hard in 67 even 5 years from now. Maybe more at NGC but not at PCGS.

Cameron Kiefer

Colorfulcoins

Congratulations Mitch !

wondercoin

Craig: As I mentioned, the coin was consigned to me. I did not grade it myself. But, I was pleased to get the coin in for a good customer's collection.

The MS state quarters have gained so much popularity that the relative pricing on MS clad quarters is remarkable, to say the least. Consider this:

1999 state quarter with pop of 50-60 in MS67 or better grade - $700 coin today (ex: GA(p)) and I have want lists for coins like this).


1988(d) clad quarter with pop of -7- in MS67 and none higher - roughly a $600 coin.

pop 50-60 MS67 quarter for $700 from the 1990's (and often unavailable right now even at that price) vs. say pop 7 MS67 for $600 from the 1980's. Talk about an interesting series right now - clad quarters are right up there IMHO. Thoughts anyone?

Wondercoin

quattrocoins

I think the clads will always be tough in gem grades. Obviously, I don't think that they were saved as the silver ones were.
However, I wonder just how large a collector base these will create.

edit to add: I'm surprised as you are 'bout the '55-D!

Don

cladking

I've said this before and gotten lambasted for it but will say it again anyway: It is very difficult
for me to picture an entire generation of collectors passing between clad states quarters and
rare 19th century US coins without substantial numbers passing through the older clad quarters.

These coins will not only be on the route that a large number of people pass through but many
will find them a destination in themselves.

roadrunner

All of those dates will eventually be graded in MS67 and with multiples of each as long as PCGS and NGC stay in business. Between more and more coins showing up and gradeflation, it has to happen.

There are dozens of dates in the 19th century silver series where the entire surviving pop of UNC coins is less than 50 per date....and in many cases 10-20 UNCs.....and many of those DO exist in MS67 grade....some with more than 1. Now with thousands (and in most cases tens and hundreds of thousands) of unc Washingtons out there for each date/mint, you're going to tell me that one or two (and even 10-20) superb gem MS67's don't exist? These coins were saved too. The 19th century coins as a rule were not saved in roll quantity. Those MS67's will show up as surely as the rain comes even if the mint had a propensity towards poor quality in the clad era. I don't think you can say the same thing about the silver Washington's. They were made at least as good as the seated quarters.


roadrunner

wondercoin

"I don't think you can say the same thing about the silver Washington's"

RR: What did you mean by this sentence?

Wondercoin

cladking

<< <i>All of those dates will eventually be graded in MS67 and with multiples of each as long as PCGS and NGC stay in business. Between more and more coins showing up and gradeflation, it has to happen.

There are dozens of dates in the 19th century silver series where the entire surviving pop of UNC coins is less than 50 per date....and in many cases 10-20 UNCs.....and many of those DO exist in MS67 grade....some with more than 1. Now with thousands (and in most cases tens and hundreds of thousands) of unc Washingtons out there for each date/mint, you're going to tell me that one or two (and even 10-20) superb gem MS67's don't exist? These coins were saved too. The 19th century coins as a rule were not saved in roll quantity. Those MS67's will show up as surely as the rain comes even if the mint had a propensity towards poor quality in the clad era. I don't think you can say the same thing about the silver Washington's. They were made at least as good as the seated quarters.


roadrunner >>



19th century coins and moderns are different animals. Comparing a silver coin from the 1850's
and a clad coin from the 1980's simply makes no sense. Silver coinage used to represent a great
deal of money and a hald dollar might be frontier family's grocery budget for many months. These
coins weren't used with the same abandon that pocket change is used today. The coins were
used in commerce but many often sat in warehouses or vaults as backing for other money or as
a store of value. When times were tough, these are the coins people hoarded for security. This
is entirely different usage than the newer coins. If not for these factors there might be virtually none
of these old coins today that aren't worn smooth, leaving little for the collector.

The clads are far different. The government cranked these out to fill orders for small change. They
were fully aware that there weren't many people collecting the coins and there was no call for them
to be made more nicely. Mint workers had unions and and the bosses had no interest in seeing
much effort put into making attractive coins and getting them out of the mint in good shape. The
handful of collectors knew that finding gems in circulation was equivalent to finding a needle in a
haystack so for the most part didn't even look. These coins were not set aside in vast numbers, in-
deed most dates of clad quarters are extremely elusive today and wouldn't be seen at all if not
for the fact that there is still virtually no demand for rolls of these coins. Despite the low price and
lack of demand, most of these rolls are increasing in price due to their scarcity. While mint practices
and quality vary greatly from year to year, there are almost certainly some dates that the poor qual-
ity and tiny survival rates assures there are NO gem coins in rolls. Literally none. This leaves
the miint sets which most collectors have always used as a reason that modern coins can never
have any real value. Guess what? Some of these coins are virtually unavailable in high grade. It
varies from coin to coin and year to year but sometimes the coins are poorly made and sometimes they
are poorly preserved. The '88-P was poorly preserved. These coins are almost universally banged up
in the mint set. If you look at 1,000 sets you'll see maybe 6 or seven fairly nice gems but don't count
on a superb gem. The mint sets themselves have suffered tremendous attrition over the years because
they too have been ignored. Prices on many were under face value which has led to vast numbers
just being cut up and placed into circulation with no regard to the quality of the coins in them. The '88
mint set never got extremely cheap but did get down to $2.25. With the $1.82 face value and a couple
half dollars that would easily bring $.75 each that did leave the remainder of the set at less than face.

No one knows how many of any of these coins are out there, but if would seem that the tiny market
for these coins has already proven that not all these coins are common. Even if they were all common,
it wouldn't make them any less fun to collect and it wouldn't make them any less important, historical,
or US coins.