What happened in 1933 with the Washington quarter?...

razorface1027

Why did they not mint a 33 quarter?

TUMUSS

WOW...Very Weird...I am bored this morning, and I pulled my xf-Washington album out & just enjoying it. I had the same thought!!!

nwcs

I know the 1932 was meant as a 1 year commem. But I think the depression had an effect on it.

UncleJoe

Don't have the answer other than I recall reading something about how the 1932 was supposed to be a commemorative coin. Maybe there were no plans to continue minting Washington Quarters at first and then they changed their minds.

Joe.

UncleJoe

nwcs, How fast do you type?

I see I need to brush up on my typing speed.

Joe.

MFH

Same thing could be said for the 1931 Standing Liberty Quarter, the Depression.

cladking

Demand for coin is projected for years into the future and then the mint will adjust
production for current demand. The fed branches order coin based on the demand
from the regional and local banks it serves (I believe now days there are some large
"end users" who also order from the fed). Some fed districts tend to have a net inflow
of coin except in the strongest economies so these coins are transported to other dis-
tricts which have the typical outflow. Any shortfall is made up by the mint in new pro-
duction. They will not make up for very small shortfalls because their experience is
that the entire mintage will be hoarded by speculators and collectors so these are
made up from coins in storage which are rotated to use the oldest first*. The slow econ-
omy of the early '30's and deflation combined to make the mintage of all coins unnecessary
but this was particularly acute in the larger denominations.



*This rotation was not effective until 1972.

Veep

Someone is sure to know, but I've always chalked it up to the Depression. There were no nickels or dimes in 1932 or 1933 either. My Dad was born in '33 and always lamented that his birth year set was pretty small.

beartracks42

I read somewhere that a combination of the depression and the non-existant need for more coinage, resulted in little or no coinage produced in several early 30's years in various mints. I probably read that on this forum, though am not sure.

Shamika

Also note that Buffalo nickels were not minted in 1933 (or 1932 either).

Furthermore, in 1931 only the San Fransisco mint produced nickels and very few at that.

keets

what cladking and beartracks said. if you look at Mint production in those early 30;s years, yuo'll notice that a year set or mint set would bre quite small for most years. even in the 20's the release of some year/denomination issues was held up due to the simple fact that the coinage wasn't needed for commerce.

with the Washington in particular, it was originally intended to be a one year commemorative and i guess the arguement could be made that it should be considered that. the SLQ was assumed to be the regular issue with a one year hiatus. with the onset of the Great Depression the rest is history.

al h.

Boom

EXACTLY !! A comination of all the factors you have all mentioned..1) There was no need...2)The Great Depression and 3)the

Nation was Po.

oreville

Agreed with all of the above but one statement struck me as real odd.

Veep quoted his Dad who was born in 1933:

<<<<<<<<My Dad was born in '33 and always lamented that his birth year set was pretty small. >>>>>>

My thought on this...........sure it was pretty small so he has probably more than saved up enough $$$ towards his rightful 1933 Saint Gaudens????