Questions for Cladking about the different reverses on Washington Quarters.......

SanctionII

............ now that I have the new Cherrypickers, Vol. 2.

From prior posts by Cladking and others, I have heard of Washington Quarters with type "A", "B", "C" and "D" reverses. I have never seen pics of the different reverses posted and thus do not know wht to look for.

In the new Cherrypickers a discussion of Washington Quarter reverses, types "A", "B" and "C" is present with both text and pictures explaining and showing the differences. Nothing is mentioned about the type "D" reverse.

My questions for Cladking are:

1. Are the type "A", "B" and "C reverses you have posted about the same as the type "A", "B" and "C" mentioned in Cherrypickers, Vol. 2?;

2. Can and will you give us a written description of or picture of the type "D" reverse you have mentioned?;

3. Can and will you gives us a listing of what years and mintmarks of Washington quarters have what types of reverses (and which of these we should be on the lookout for)?; and

4. Is a 1958 P Washington with a type "B" reverse common or uncommon/rare [I looked at an MS 1958P I have in a type set and saw that it is a type "B" reverse and is listed in Cherrypickers, Vol. 2 as a variety]?

It would be very helpful to all forumites who are interested in silver and clad Washingtons to know about the different reverse "types" and be able to identify which "type" is present on the coins that they have.

Thanks in advance, SantionII.

cladking

<< <i>

1. Are the type "A", "B" and "C reverses you have posted about the same as the type "A", "B" and "C" mentioned in Cherrypickers, Vol. 2?; >>



I've yet to recieve my preordered copy , but yes it's a virtual certainty they are the same.


<< <i>
2. Can and will you give us a written description of or picture of the type "D" reverse you have mentioned?; >>



The type "d" reverse first appeared on the 1977 quarter. Only a tiny percentage of the
mintage had this reverse tough. The reverse was modified each year and appeared on
increasing percentages of coins each year. The '79 is the first year that the reverse is
easily recognizable as different from the type "c". 1982 the difference is dramatic and
further changes were slight though the type"c" still in use was being modified as well.

There are a large number of differences that apply to all these type "d" reverses. The
most dramatic is the relief which is much lower but the easiest way to spot all of them is
the right side of the N in UNUM is much farther from the eagle's head on the type "d'.

Look at a few 1984 dates from either mint and there will be a type 'd" which is very dram-
atic. These are quite common for this date so you won't need many. Study the Q and the
spacing of the lettering relative the rim and leaves. You can spot quite a few differences
though many are slight and vary from year to year.


<< <i>
3. Can and will you gives us a listing of what years and mintmarks of Washington quarters have what types of reverses (and which of these we should be on the lookout for)?; and >>



The type "d" was used on some of all the quarters from 1977 to 1984 with the exception
of the 1982-P. None appear in mint sets except the '81-P but it is scarce in sets and accounts
for about .6% of mintage. Ironically this will probably make it the most common of all of these
in unc. The '77 is probably the lowest mintage and it was probably under 100,000. There is
almost no chance that it exists in unc. The '78-D is much more common with about 1,000,000
made but it too probably does not exist in unc. The others do exist in unc though some will be
very scarce or rare. The '79-D is quite tough despite this being a common one and more rolls
were set aside than other dates. Despite the fact that the 1984's are so distressingly common
few people sety these aside because mint sets were available. A few rolls were saved so I al-
ways check these for the type "d". These will be common with tens of thousands of uncs.

All 1985 and later quarters have a heavily modified type "d" reverse. The modification makes
it look much more like a type "c" than it had.


<< <i>
4. Is a 1958 P Washington with a type "B" reverse common or uncommon/rare [I looked at an MS 1958P I have in a type set and saw that it is a type "B" reverse and is listed in Cherrypickers, Vol. 2 as a variety]? >>



I'm not real familiar with the silver issues other than 1964. I believe the '58-D is easier and the
'58-P is a little better but might be confused and don't have references at hand.
>>






There are other reverse types on the clad quarters but the type "d's' are a favorite of mine.

buc

I collect reverse hub "B" Washington quarters and have found conflicting information about them. The information from several numismatic writers states that the reverse hub "B" were struck in Denver, yet I have never seen or found one myself. This doesn't seem logical since the reverse hub "B" is a proof reverse used from 1936-1964, that being all proof's of this era were struck in Philadelphia. Why would proof hubs be sent to Denver? Instead just use them in house, they started in 1956 and can be found in Mint sets from 1956 through 1964 and some were released into circulation. I kept looking for D mint reverse "B" hubs and couldn't find one and contacted Bob Zapp and he said they weren't produced in Denver as what I suspected. I will say It seems like the earlier dates are easier to find, I have had a hard time locating a Nice 1964. If anyone has any further information please respond to this thread as information seems limited on this subject.

RELLA

<< <i>If anyone has any further information please respond to this thread as information seems limited on this subject. >>



I have heard of a single 1958-D Type B reverse from a reliable source but have not seen the coin or pictures. Feigenbaum's Washington Quarter book (published quite some time ago) merely restates Breen's incorrect assertion that D mint Type B coins actually exist in any quantity.

From my experience the 1957, 1958, and 1961 Type B pieces exist or probably exist in mint sets....the 1956 and 1964 probably do not...not sure on the others. 1956 is the key date in all grades among these, with some other dates being conditionally rare, the 1964 most notable in that regard. 1957 seems the most common in high grade...I have noted MS67 examples with mint set toning in all three top grading service holders unattributed. I have also seen a smattering of higher grades of other dates from 1958-1961 in holders but not in MS67; though they likely exist for some of these years. I have not encountered any solid Gem examples of 1962-1964 but I have not devoted a great deal of time to the search.

The one "oddball" in the silver series is the 1964-D Type C reverse...a nice transitional piece but not as rare as once thought; older information refers to but a single die pairing and this is no longer thought to be true. Still it is conditionally rare and a nice pickup in MS64 and above IMO.

Anyone else with personal insight please reply...

RELLA

SanctionII

Interesting information.

Anyone else care to contribute to the discussion?

Further, are there any good books on Washington quarters that goes into detail on the topic of the different types of reverses for both the silver and clad coins? If so, please provide the name of the book and the author.

cladking

There are other reverse varieties as well. For instance while the type "c" reverse was
probably used on all 1973 and 1974 issues as well as all '72-P issues there were changes
in these each of these years. The difference between the '73 and '72 is quite large and
between the '74 and '73 were minor. Regardless the '74-P appears with both a '72 and
a '73 type "c" reverse and the Denver '74 has an older one as well. I suspect that most
of these "wrong year" reverses were created when technicians neglected to change out
both dies at the beginning of the new year. They could easily get confused and not change
the reverse die. The difference between the '73 and '74 is mostly just the cross hatching
added for 1974. A fairly well struck and lightly worn example is needed to confirm this var-
iety so very few will be found in any grade.

SanctionII

TTT for the night crew.