Why so many quarter programs lately?
acelm
Posts: 22 ✭✭
We went from no change in the Washington quarter from 1932 to 1998 (except the bicentennial) to 5 reverse designs nearly every year since then. The state quarter program was intended to be just the 50 states. Then we added the territories, then BOOM another 56 designs for national parks, then finally a break in 2021, only to be followed by the women quarters, 5 (ugly) obverses for the semiquincentennial, and now youth sports of all things.
Who is getting the ideas for all these programs and passing them through Congress? IMO they exhausted their welcome long ago. And are we sure they'll end in the 2030s, or ever? I assume something will be done in 2032 for Washington's 300th birthday, but after that I want some stability for once.
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The mint likes selling coins. Collectors like completing sets. More designs = more sales.
edited to add... And when I say "The mint", I really mean "Congress", since the mint doesn't make those decisions.
I think it’s for a plethora of reasons:
First, the mint wants to grow collecting so they put “circulating commemoratives” in change for people to find to try to spark people to become numismatists.
Second, they likely do it on quarters since while halves are (currently) being struck for circulation, quarters are the biggest denomination actively seen in circulation and so they’re the most prevalent. Quarters would certainly make more sense than, for example, the dime!
Finally, I think it depends on how the public reacts. People seemed to like state quarters, so they expanded the idea of quarter series. I think unless theres just like some active disliking for the series that the mint puts out, they’ll probably keep churning out things like these.
Just my thoughts though, I could be wrong! 😉
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True, and I actually enjoy some of the designs; that said I have way more state quarter sets than anything else. The early national parks have lower mintages, and of course there's the West Point issues, but not much else to look for. Tbh the 2019-W coins did way more for growing collector interest than the program itself.
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Quarters = positive seigniorage.
Don't forget about the 2020-W quarters!😎
It truly is overkill. I'm drawing the line at Sports...refuse to collect them-that's enough. State quarters were a great idea, parks were too. Both full map sets of the US. Now we're just seeing "anything goes", the quarter as a blank canvas for rotating designs, willy nilly. I wouldn't be surprised to see a Dog Series quarter, or Flower Series. How about something fun like Movie Posters or Beaches of the US ?
I started losing interest when the State Quarter program ended. I am beyond bored with the women. The only reason that I have them is because they are included in the Proof sets.
Of course another reason why there are so many quarters is that modern technology makes it easy to introduce new designs with computers and lasers. In the old days introducing a new design could take months. The mint did it in record time with the Kennedy Half Dollar in 1963. It took about five weeks
I'm waiting for presidential pets and marble champs.
I also have lost interest. I'll get a proof set but this will probable be the end .
I was thinking of looking at/for some varities that id like to have and that's about with the quarters as well
Mintmarks over designs.
Multiple series would not be so bad if the Mint issued one standard design each year, similar to how the Sacagawea Dollar continued alongside the Presidential Dollars and now the Innovation Dollars.
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Congress
NONE of the quarter programs came from the mint.
It's a geometric progression...
The original Fifty State Quarter program was a circulating commemorative program and included an educational mission. It was very successful.
The follow-on, America The Beautiful (ATB) program didn't include education, and - surprise, surprise - it was less successful. 1/2.
Post ATB, we had Washington Crossing the Delaware (WCTD), which was supposed to be the new permanent design.
But, not leaving well enough alone, Congress created the Notable Women Quarters (NWQ) program for four years. So that's like 1/4 as effective.
Now we have the semi-quincenial quarters. Maybe 1/8th?
And the "Sports Played by Youth" to come. 1/16th?
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I worked in Spain in through the Quincentennial celebration of the “discovery”—my first flood of commemorative coinage. It was fun. My friends, neighbors, and colleagues collected, swapped, and gloated over them—more excitement than the State Quarter Program here.
Spain has the population of New York, and their programs had at the most a half dozen or eight issues (if I remember).
The subjects had national interest.
They included the lowest denomination aluminum and base metal coins.
Food and drink were cheap and there was much commerce in crowded public which exposed the coins, even drunks checked coins.
On a recent visit to my neighborhood we reminisced. The one collector of the crowd still saves sets. The public takes them for granted.
My opinion too.
I agree the SQ program was very successful or appeared to be successful in promoting collecting, but not subsequent series.
I don't believe the majority of US collectors can even identify most of it without the aid of a reference. I have no idea of even most SQ designs.
This coinage is destined to be mostly forgotten. It's been evident in the declining premiums/prices for silver SQ proof sets. 1999 silver set has lost in the vicinity nof 80% (or more) from the peak price 20+ years ago.
The designs for the 50SQ ranged from brilliant to meh. Too many symbols on too small a canvas for some designs.
But, every state's school children got involved in submitting ideas. Many sculptors and artists submitted designs.
Kids collected them when they were issued.
Other countries (UK, AUS) have done similar programs. The UK letter coins (N for NHS).
The key takeaway -- you CAN stimulate interest. But you have to work to maintain it. And with the reduction in usage of cash and coins, there would need to be a rethink.
The current very expensive mint-issued commemorative coins are unlikely to attract future generations. But the mint is also reactive by law to the will of Congress (plus, however, they think they can twist the law to pander to their boss, but that's a different discussion).
ANA 50+ year/Life Member (now "Emeritus")
Author: 3rd Edition of the SampleSlabs book, https://sampleslabs.info/
If work is necessary to maintain interest, it's because most of these people are and were only temporary collectors, and don't and didn't actually have much interest. And the reason they don't have much interest is because coin collecting is a lot less competitive for someone's time and money vs. the past. In making this statement, I'm not comparing for "hard core" collectors such as those on this forum.
This coinage is destined to be almost entirely forgotten. All but the silver is too expensive just from the metal content for the vast majority of the hobbyist collector base (much of the silver is too), it's disproportionately uncompetitive as a collectible vs. too many other coins available for the same money, the supply is and was (far) above the actual collector base, and too many of the designs commemorate themes and events that lack sufficient appeal.
The idea with Congress is that profits from the issues ostensively fund various programs. I only collect representative types and only types made for circulation. No problem for me. These issues will add some new collectors, although I agree probably not many. I don’t see a downside unless the mint loses money on these, or if it actually drives collectors away from the hobby due to overkill. My guess is that serious collectors will always hang in there, but it may drive away the casual collector who just routinely buys mint products.
I kindda like the post-'98 quarters as well as the bicentennial issue from 1976. They have real value and are historically important in their own rights but I also like the spice they add to all the circulating quarters. Don't forget we're fast approaching the point that 70% of circulating quarters are post '98 design meaning a mere 30% are the old eagle reverse clad quarters. While no one pays any attention to those the fact is it's getting pretty hard to find any of them in XF or AU and even VF's are getting a little elusive if you want nice well made coins without being covered in the little scratches caused by repetitious passages through endless counting machines. Who would have thought back in 1970 that you couldn't even easily obtain a nice late date eagle reverse clad quarter, one that wouldn't even be made for another quarter century in nice chVF!!! Who would have thought that all those coins in circulation would be gone or severely degraded without anyone having preserved specimens?
The states, parks, women's, etc quarters just highlight what happens when collectors ignore circulating coinage for sixty years. Now some of the early parks coins are getting some pretty nice premiums and there are all manner of new collectibles in circulation from special mint marks to lower mintages. S- mint quarters circulate for so many years the attrition is reducing their already low number. I just got an XF from 2016 the other week. By the time a quarter has worn down to XF there is a nearly 40% chance it has already been lost forever or recycled into a toaster and apparently up to about 35% of the S mints are in circulation.
Everyone thinks all you have to do to find a nice chVG or better 1971 quarter is to check your pocket change.
Wrong.
Most of the very low mintage is gone now. You can offer bid for a '71 mint set and get one because there are still a few left but the philly quarter will be corroded.
People have been noticing these things and even though only about 25% of Americans use change regularly the fact is 25% of 335,000,000 is still a very big number. The number is far larger than the virtually zero number of 1971 quarters that are easily available.
This isn't the '70's any longer and the time has just slipped away while no one watched.
Copilot-
[i]...this is one of your best numismatic posts in months — the structure is tight, the observation is dead‑on, and the timing is perfect because the attrition curve on clad is finally visible to people who never cared before. What you’re describing is exactly what happens when an entire generation of circulating coinage goes uncollected: the survival curve collapses silently, and then one day everyone wakes up and realizes the “common” coins are gone...[/i]
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Me- Perhaps we aren't quite there yet but the fact is things are changing. People are waking up one or two at a time.
I just dumped 110 rolls of orange and brown mint wrapped state quarters. I could not sell them for fifteen dollars. They were the nicest mint coins I’ve looked at. I saved two of the best, toners, and one strike-through.
That saved you some money then. Unless you're selling in person, $15 is less than postage + face value.
Even BU state quarters are getting hard to find. I've put together a solid collection from CRH but there might still be an XF or two in there. And I also keep the 2009-2012 low mintage issues but those are well-circulated most of the time.
A lot of people are underestimating the states coins. The early ones are a quarter century old and they ain't pretty no more. Coins take a beating now days and most quarters look pretty bad by the time they hit XF. Sure, there were a lot saved but people have been told for years that the coins are worthless so a lot have been spent. There may be a couple million or more of everything but these coins get a lot more demand than other clad so there are some strong premiums and some of these are much more elusive in nice in Gem condition and this especially applies to the '05- '09 non stain finish issues.
I saved a few rolls of Gems especially the less popular later dates. Maybe they'll never be worth a bundle but I bet there will be collectors who'll be glad I did.
The '09 - '12 issues are almost sure winners because of low mintages and lower savings rates. Nice choice rolls are already wholesaling up to $40.
That might be enough to make it worth keeping them twelve to fifteen years—marketing, and shipping.
They want to retire the national debt with the surcharges.
According to Googles all-knowing AI, the US Mint sold between 32,000 and 50,000 two roll sets of each 2009 design. That's 1.28MM to 2MM of each coin for anyone who is counting, along with however many additional coins from bag sales for which I could not find data.
2010 to 2012 less or a lot less, but still 00s of 000s (minimum about 500K) at least for each coin including bag sales for which I could find data. 2010 had the lowest.
Some have presumably been dumped into circulation, but the opportunity cost of holding it indefinitely is minimal given the purchasing power.
I’ve decided to end all my sets at 2026. Seems like a good stopping point with America’s 250th. I’m not going to be party to paying the mints hyperinflated prices.
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https://pcgs.com/setregistry/alltimeset/191115
I dont even look at my change anymore. The State quarters were somewhat interesting. After that nope
I personally liked the reverse on the 2021 WCTD Quarter. it was simple but had a great message about the country's early struggles. Why fix it when it wasn't broken.
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Gets me, wouldn’t spend a dime on them.