53D Washington, A challenging date...

Bikingnut

to find in MS66. At least for me it's been challenging. It's the only hole in my registry set from the 50's. According to my Red Book, there were 56,112,400 minted. The mintage for the 53P was 1/3 as many, the 53S only about 1/4. But those were easy to obtain.

The mintage for the 46S was a mere 4,204,000, but nice 46S's are easy to find in MS66. The current population report for the 46S shows that PCGS has graded 1,079 examples in MS66, yet for the 53D, only 144.

Any of you Washington collectors know why this is?

Dennis

TomB

The 1951-D and 1953-D are, on average, the poorest coins for total Mint quality from the late-1940s through mid-1950s. However, I have found that the 1954-S is, on average, the worst struck coin for this period. I do not know why this is, but I also found the 1951-D and 1953-D to be very tough to find in high grade and with good eye appeal. Good luck.

wondercoin

53-D - way more contact marks and hits than the smooth surfaces of 46-S quarters.

generally - plenty of 53-D MS66 coins to go around. The tougher D is 52-D (and 54-D in top grade). 55-D - forget about that one in MS67 - near impossible under PCGS' standards right now. trying to find a nice MS66 is no easy task now either

Wondercoin

TomB

I'm certain Mitch has seen significantly more MS Washington quarters than I have, so his observations are probably more accurate on a global scale while mine would reflect the nature of the shows that I have attended.

wondercoin

Tom: You see my comment came 1 minute after yours and I was typing it when you were typing your comment - so, it was not intended to challenge any of your findings, which I find very reasonable.

Re - the 54-S - I agree with you. It is disappointing to me to see a coin grade MS67 or better of this date with the typical weak reverse strike. For nearly 15+ years, PCGS would not grade this date above an MS66 (and often an MS65 with the typical weak strike). Things changed about a half dozen years ago and the grading services became much more forgiving on the strike of these S mint quarters. And, of course, things change.

Wondercoin