Is it worth buying uncirculated State Quarters

friend

My bank put aside $100 dollars of uncirculated State Quarters which I am suppose to pick up tomorrow morning. Is this a bad investment or is it possible I could find something special?

Julio

I'd do it. You can have fun looking and then cash em back in. jws

HTubbs

Yes,you can get at least $12 a roll for them...

ledzep87

Do not expect these rolls to be a good investment.

Leiana

Are they all the same?

-Amanda

BECOKA

They will never be worth more than a quarter each in UNC. If you are a dealer and go to shows people might pay a small premium just to avoid hunting

Heywood

You never know.

I sold a bunch of Tenneasee rolls for more than face.

They became Semi scarce because a group had bought a ton to colorize and sell as Elvis memorabillia, thus it was harder to find rolls.

However, most people will pick up a roll or 2 at face, and the only way you lose, is the oppertunity costs of tying up your $100 that could buy somthing that is more likely to appreciate. ( Buyt no on knows for sure what will!)

netrubicon

Unless your looking for errors or trying to make MS70s, its not really an investment. Almost everyone collects a few out of pocket change here

and there and with mint figures as high as they are, they wont be worth much more than a quarter ever. Pick up some common date Wheat

or Memorial rolls in gem. When they discontine the cent in 2008, and people start melting pre 82 cents for metal value, Lincolns are gonna

go thru the roof again. Just my opinion, do what you like!

Rampage

My opinion is NO, but I have been wrong before.

friend

I am not a coin dealer, I just started collecting a few weeks ago. If I was to pick up these State Quarters it would be to look for Errors only. Is this worth taking a shot. I am hoping they are not all the same State, but I will check it out before going through with the purchase. If they are all the same State (I hope not) that would not be wise I take it?

netrubicon

Just dont pay over face value for them, unless you are targeting a specific error like the Wisconson extra trees, then sell them to me!

BECOKA

If they are all the same date then there is a good chance that they would be uncirculated rolls.

Petarded

The only SHQ that were lucrative in ANY way, shape or form, were early on. I had DE, NJ, PA in bank rolls. Those went for $40-$50 on the bay....within the first year. Shortly after the Mass Q's came out, I had AU rolls of DE on the bay fetching as high as $55!! Those prices plummeted, and I strongly doubt ANY roll with be worth that much...not while WE are alive, anyway.

FullStrike

I would advise you to instead buy your wife or girlfriend a special surprise for $100.00. The SQ's couldn't possibly be ass good an investment ass that.

anoldgoat

I try to get a couple of unc rolls when they are released. I get 3 to 5 decent ones from each roll. The best one goes in my album, the other nice ones in 2x2s and the rest go into laundry machines. Cost is a couple dollars per state and I fill a hole.

Whizzard

As face? Are they rolled different State/mint? If so, its a small profit.

thezookrew

I think a lot of people are collecting a roll or two of the coins as they come out. Saying that, there is probably A TON of BU state quarters out there. If you want to have a nice coin hunt ask/beg your bank to order a box of half dollars. You will probably find a few 40% coins and maybe even a Franklin or 90% Kennedy. As investments go, I agree with the rest, unless there is a MAJOR error lurking (Wisconsin extra leaf or Minnesota extra tree) there is little upside potential. (Now watch, there will be some form of error in the new Colorado quarters that just came out!!!)

fishcooker

Just dont pay over face value for them, unless you are targeting a specific error like the Wisconson extra trees, then sell them to me!

I'll pay $10,000 for any Wisconsin extra tree error.

Leiana

Well, if you're looking for errors like clipped planchets or brockages or off-metal errors or similar, you might be dissapointed. The mint enacted some new measures in 2002 and now error coins that actually make it out are VERY VERY scarce. Just so you know.

-Amanda

AgMe

eh, you're getting them at face, so you can't lose too much...

If you like the coin (design), pull the trigger.

seateddime

I have 10 rolls of Califonia, worth anything?

cladking

It's almost always taken a lot of work to make moderns pay from a return standpoint. Generally
you should never risk money in a collectible but if you're getting coins at face it's no real risk. The
worst case is that you have to spend them in a few years when the dollar is worth less.

It takes more work than ever to make the states coins pay but the rewards are probably a much
more "sure thing" than in the past. People are setting the coins aside in large numbers so there's
little chance that just having typical coins in a few years will pay big dividends. But there are numer-
erous not so typical states coins. These range from choice and gem issues to the silver and clad
proofs to the varieties. If you sort through coins looking for something special there's little doubt
you can gain a profit though there is some doubt it will pay for your time and trouble unless you get
lucky.

Your best bet is to set aside these special coins when you can get them at face. If you want to risk
a little than some of other coins are really pretty cheap. 2000 mint sets are well under double face
value yet they contain virtually all of the finest coins. Some of the silver proofs are surprisinly affor-
dable since few people believe there is any potential. Do set aside quantities of typical rolls (as nice
as you can find), but if you can't sell them at a good profit within three years dump them at face val-
ue. Don't let them sit around for decades losing most of your "investment".

Figure to make money you'll have to do some real work and heavy lifting. You may need to develop
contacts or sell on ebay. Luck will help since there are no sure things in this hobby.

seateddime

better to use the money and buy a cd

relayer

It's not a bad investment if you are paying face value.

Coxe

Bad investment. Mintages and survival rate based on widespread collecting means there won't be any shortage of those things. Yes, you can fleece YNs and lazy newbies trying fill album holes. But that is too much work and distasteful work to me. As a longterm investment, sitting on cash in an environment that is necessarily inflationary is very foolish. Getting them at face is fine. Keeping them for a long time then is idiocy IMO.

cladking

<< <i>Bad investment. Mintages and survival rate based on widespread collecting means there won't be any shortage of those things. Yes, you can fleece YNs and lazy newbies trying fill album holes. But that is too much work and distasteful work to me. As a longterm investment, sitting on cash in an environment that is necessarily inflationary is very foolish. Getting them at face is fine. Keeping them for a long time then is idiocy IMO. >>



"Shortage" is a relative term. Obviously there is a shortage of Brasher doubloons. There
are thousands of people who would like to have one and there are only six or eight avail-
able. Prices are high. By the same token though there is a shortage of a few of the states
issues. The TN is $40 per roll the DE is $35 and a few others have smaller premiums. The
WI varieties are going for many hundreds with nice specimens going for thousands. Major
errors bring a thousand dollars or more. Even among more mundane regular issues, all
bring substantial premiums in gem or choice gem.

To date there is insufficient demand to push the price up on a coin like a MS-64 '99-P DE, but
this coin is really fairly scarce. Anyone "out in the trenches" would know that when you open
a roll of these there is little chance of finding a nice well made, lightly marked coin. Many ot-
hers are also tough in some way. While the silver proofs will generally cost quite a bit there
are a few of these that can be picked up cheaply.

There are tens of millions of people collecting the states issues. Many are still total neophytes
and may not even be aware of the hobby. Some have become more sophisticated and are
learning about mintmarks, and proofs. Many have learned much more yet and may have even
visited a coin shop or bought a coin magazine. A few are avid collectors or moved on to other
series.

How these folks mature as collectors and what they do in the future is open to speculation and
it's impossible to know. Perhaps they'll all just quit collecting altogether when the states pro-
gram has run its course and shove their completed albums deep in the closet. But what if they
go on to become advanced and serious collectors? What if millions of them continue to work on
their states sets? The demand for the nice MS-64 DE could ratchet higher for decades. There
aren't millions of these available. There are a few tens of thousands. What would substantial
demand do to this coin which has already tripled along with its lower grade brethern?

As I said making money in these coins will require work. Yes, it might even require a little luck.
But for those unwisely investing in coins there is perhaps nowhere else that can return the
kind of dividends that can be found in the states issues. Investing is about percentage return.
A million dollar investment that doubles is great but a million dollar's worth of 35c coins that go
to $2 (or $5) is a much greater reward.

carl

I've told this story quite a few times now. Many years ago a few freinds of mine and myself included went nutty collecting those brand new, hot off the presses Bicentennial quarters, We sent in for the Proofs, Uncirc's, bought rolls from the banks, pulled everyone we could find out of change. One freind ended up with virtually thousands of dollars worth of those dumb things. Prices in coin books, magazines and on the net make it sound like not much value. Tried to unload some at coin shows and only acquired laughter. One friend tried ebay. At least ebay can't laugh. We all ended up taking the vasts majority to a bank and watching them go through a coin counter. Now that money is collecting interest at least. Naturally kept most of the Proofs and Uncirc's. I did give away lots of them on giveaways here though.
As to the state quarters. I forsee the same thing in about 20 years when everyone realizes they would have been better off investing in bubble gum or buggy whips. If gasoline prices keep going up, horses will make a comeback and buggy whips may be worth lots more than those quarters.

cladking

<< <i>I've told this story quite a few times now. Many years ago a few freinds of mine and myself included went nutty collecting those brand new, hot off the presses Bicentennial quarters, We sent in for the Proofs, Uncirc's, bought rolls from the banks, pulled everyone we could find out of change. One freind ended up with virtually thousands of dollars worth of those dumb things. Prices in coin books, magazines and on the net make it sound like not much value. Tried to unload some at coin shows and only acquired laughter. One friend tried ebay. At least ebay can't laugh. We all ended up taking the vasts majority to a bank and watching them go through a coin counter. Now that money is collecting interest at least. Naturally kept most of the Proofs and Uncirc's. I did give away lots of them on giveaways here though.
As to the state quarters. I forsee the same thing in about 20 years when everyone realizes they would have been better off investing in bubble gum or buggy whips. If gasoline prices keep going up, horses will make a comeback and buggy whips may be worth lots more than those quarters. >>



This is what I'd have predicted. 1976 was back in my "heavy lifting" days and I too was
interested in these coins as a collector and also as an investor. (Don't invest in collecibles)
It was obvious large numbers of coins were going straight from the FED into storage and
safety deposit boxes. There was no way anyone could make any money setting aside the
same ol', same ol'. These coins were so heavily saved that despite a mintage of 1.6 billion
they were seen in circulation about as often as the the '73-D with a mintage under 300 mil.
But there was absolutely no indication that anyone was paying any attention to condition.
Both the '75 and '76 mint sets contained these coins and had good premiums because of it.
There was little difference in these premiums despite the fact that the '76 set had spectacu-
lar examples and the '75 had very few. Over the years the spectacular sets disappeared at
the same rate as the typical ones. The premiums for the sets has waxed and waned inde-
pendently but the incidence of nice quarters in them has remained mostly steady (at least
until recently).

In the course of looking for the special coins I ran across other special coins. Unfortunately
the '76 quarters are relatively bereft of special coins but there is a DDO and a multitude of
errors. Now a truly superb '76 quarter is appreciated and can sell for prices up to a couple
thousand dollars. The DDO is worth $1000 in circulated condition and error coins of all sorts
are popular and doubly so if of the bicentennial design. It took a huge mount of work and
very little money to assemble a small horde of astounding coins and find one for my collect-
ion. It was a hoot and I'd be doing it today if heavy lifting were still an option.

renman95

<< <i>I have 10 rolls of Califonia, worth anything? >>



If all the quarters had California spelled "Califonia", I think you might be sitting on a gold mine...otherwise you have $100.00 worth

Coxe

Carl has made the same point I was going to. There are a lot of quarters and a lot of collectors of the state series but I think it is rather speculative to expect that (collector numbers) to be sustained much less increased in numbers. This is not about errors or a finest quality specimens but garden variety UNC rolls. I cannot see them going much further than the bicentennial issues that pedestrian collectors hoarded as novelties they were certain were going to go way up in the future.

cladking

<< <i>Carl has made the same point I was going to. There are a lot of quarters and a lot of collectors of the state series but I think it is rather speculative to expect that (collector numbers) to be sustained much less increased in numbers. This is not about errors or a finest quality specimens but garden variety UNC rolls. I cannot see them going much further than the bicentennial issues that pedestrian collectors hoarded as novelties they were certain were going to go way up in the future. >>




I don't disagree very much. The only exception is that this is a long series and it's
not impossible that some states or mintmarks might be overlooked.

But people don't have to set aside garden variety coins. They can seek out the
coins like MS-64 DE quarters or the extra tree MN coins. This is a lot of work but
if no one does it then the coins are not going to be available in the future and time
not only flies but bounds and leaps.

If you have garden variety coins sell them when you can make a profit but other-
wise these still make a great collectible and still present opportunity for those
strong and foolish enough to venture into them.