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Comments sought from Clad King about early (1968-1979) clad quarters.

SanctionIISanctionII Posts: 12,104 ✭✭✭✭✭
Clad King, I seek your comments about certain clad quarters.

I have previously posted about clad quarters I collected in the 1960's and 1970's; and about a recent pickup of over 100 MS and Proof clad quarters. I have enjoyed reading your posts and replies on clad quarters and am now going back to the well, as it were, for a refill.

I have gone through all of the clad quarters that I have and have placed the best for each date into a Dansco album. I have been studying the ones in the Dansco album and the duplicates that are in flips.

MS examples that I have from 1968 through 1979 are very nice with (in my lay opinion) a wide range of colors (golden, silvery, bluesilver, bluegray, purple and some with a mixture of these colors); nice luster; a wide range of strike (medium to strong); and a wide range of marks (many small marks to a few small marks).

The best coin of the 1968-1979 bunch is the 1974-D. It is golden in color, has strong luster, has great original skin, has a very strong strike, has no hairlines and has four very small marks on the jaw (2) and neck (2) that are noticeable only when looking at the coin through a loupe. My guess is that the coin would easily be an MS65.

The PCGS price guide states a 65 is $10.00, a 66 is $45.00 and a 67 is $400.00. I am curious as to whether these prices are accurate and what it takes for a coin to receive each grade.

Please give me your comments about the non proof clad quarters from 1968 through 1979, particularly your comments on strike, luster, marks, color, availability in MS grades, availability in circulated grades and current market value (what a collector could expect to pay to a dealer) for slabbed and raw coins of these years. Also if you know of any reference book on Clad Quarters, please give the title.

Thanks in advance. SanctionII.

Comments

  • SanctionIISanctionII Posts: 12,104 ✭✭✭✭✭
    TTT.

    Clad King, where are you?
  • cladkingcladking Posts: 28,637 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I'm not very knowledgeable about the grading of these. I've learned a lot since joining
    these boards but there are apparently still a few areas where I'm not completely familiar
    with the way the services grade the coins. I haven't really even tried to learn about pric-
    ing so you need to talk to someone else about it or you can give ebay a credit card and you
    can check their completed auctions and use their message board.

    If the question is what do the best of these dates look like then I'm sure I can help you
    out a little.

    The 1968 is unavailable in rolls but is very poor if found. Mint set quality runs extremely
    good but many pieces have turned quite dark over the years. The best pieces have very
    satiny luster and are PL. Strikes of these will be nearly perfect. Gems are common and
    the best pices are not extremely difficult.

    '68-D's tend to average even better than the Philly but have weaker strikes very often.
    The best pieces are nice with blast white surfaces and are very clean. Rolls are available
    with extreme effort and often contain choice examples but no gems.

    '69's are one of the toughest to find in nice condition. There are virtually no rolls and I've
    not seen one since the early '70's. The rolls weren't horrible but gems weren't seen. Mint
    set coins tend to be unattractive MS-60's with excessive marking (mostly plnchet marking)
    and very unattractive surfaces. Strike deficiencies are also common. The finest of these
    are true gems but choice gems may not really exist.

    The '69-D can be found in rolls but rarely. Roll coins can be pretty good and there might
    be some gems in these. Mint set coins are attractive but tend to have strike problems es-
    pecially with die alignment. The best coins will be very nice with beautiful surfaces and
    full strikes. PL's are sometimes seen. Mint set coins often have a very unattractive blotchy
    toning.

    '70's are nice in mint sets and the roll coins are uncommon but not too bad. The best of
    these have satiny surfaces but PL's are tough. The Denver coin is similar to the '69-D but
    tends to be nicer. Gems are nearly common. Rolls of the D's are more common than most
    other clad coins but many of them were assmbled from mint sets.

    The '71 is another poor one. These tend to be heavily marked and strikes are not often
    good. It's unavailable in rolls but you often hear about rolls of these so there could be
    some small hordes. Roll coins of this one are hit and miss but mostly miss. The best are
    pretty nice but scarce.

    '71-D come nice. The very best are deceptively tough but they're easy enough just a little
    off the top. PL's abound and the luster is superb. There are a few rolls but roll coins tend
    to have a lot of strike problems.

    '72 is like the '71 but much nicer on average. Gems aren't tough and are spectacular. Rolls
    are elusive but tend to be pretty decent. Gems are improbable though.

    The '72-D is one of the few clad quarters that approach being common in gem. Mint set coins
    are extremely nice on average and the best are often PL. I've never seen a '72-D with a 100%
    strike though. The 2 of the date always has some weakness in it. Rolls seem to have more
    demand than most clads and are not extremely rare. Quality is often good.

    '73 P and D are both pretty tough in high grade. The Denvers are pretty nice and the Phillys
    tend to leave something to be desired. Rolls are seen sometimes and tend to be decent.

    The '74 is tough. Strikes are poor and surfaces are unattractive like all the '74 issues. There
    are some great varieties of this coin but they can be found only in rolls which are sometimes
    seen. The best of these will rival the quality of the '73-P's. Roll quality is good on average
    but there are virtually no exceptional coins or extremely poor ones.

    '74-D is a little easier than the '74 in mint sets. Strikes are still a problem and alignment is
    often wrong but gems are more often seen. The best are actually pretty nice but are scarce.

    The '76 is rarely seen as gem in the '75 set but is nearly common in the '76 set. The best can
    be found in either date sets and are fantastic with superb luster and are highly PL. Strike and
    lack of fill on the drum keeps the most coins out of gem status. Rolls are distressingly common
    but do not contain gems and even choice coins are a little unusual.

    The Denver is similar except has a better average condition especially in rolls where choice coins
    are common and gems are possible.

    The '77 and '78 Phillies are sometimes seen in rolls but like the '74 are uniformly boring. Mint
    set coins suffer from poor strikes and surface tend to be unattractive. The best coins are very
    nice but quite uncommon.

    The 77-D is usually attractive but extremely nice coins are tough. The '78-D is similar and can be
    found a little PL. All four of these come with interesting reverse varieties which don't appear in
    the mint sets. Rolls are a little more available than most but some of these varieties don't appear
    in the rolls either.

    The '79 P & D are similar but gems are more easily found. The reverse varieties are more common
    on these and can be found in rolls.

    The '80-P comes as a spectacular gem as does the more common '80-D.

    The '81-P in mint sets typically has unattractive surfaces. There is some trouble with strike and mark-
    ing but the big problem is surfaces. A few of the mint set coins look like the older ones and these are
    sometimes gems. This is a tough coin in nice attractive gem. The type "d" reverse does appear in the
    mint set on about every 175th set. Rolls are uncommon and might be a better place to look for choice
    coins. Gems may exist in these also.

    The '81-D is easier than the P but still tough. Rolls exist and there may be some gems in them.
    Tempus fugit.
  • SanctionIISanctionII Posts: 12,104 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Clad King, thank you very much for your reply. I appreciate the information you have given me and other forum members in this and other posts on the topic of clads. With it I can better evaluate the clad quarters I have and the ones that I will be looking to pick up in the future.

    Sharing knowledge and experience with others is the best aspect of the forums, as it make the hobby more enjoyable and positive for all. Thanks again. SanctionII.
  • jomjom Posts: 3,441 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I can add to this somewhat: When trying to put together a Dansco set of clad Washingtons the 69P was virtually impossible to find in "nice" condition. I don't pretend to know how "nice" translates to a particular grade but I can vouch for what Clad King has stated for this date. I'd say it was somewhat similar to 71P, 72P and 76P (ty 1) Ikes in that regard.

    jom
  • Nice info, cladking. I will print this out and put in my reference binder!

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