Bust Quarters, a retrospective
SimonW
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I used to go by the moniker billet7 here on the forums. Back before the infamous “change” the forum underwent, I collected mostly early copper, early quarters, seated quarters and old slabs (I inadvertently drew a lot of attention to the Doily slabs though the “Doily Census” and in a few short years the cost to buy one skyrocketed…oops.) Life changes made it necessary to liquidate my collection. I now own a single Doily holder, selling the others for small potatoes…but I digress.
Fast forward to today. I collect mostly Spanish colonial coins, with a handful of side quests. One of those includes a smattering of things I used to collect…basically I buy something when it’s a killer deal and I can’t pass it up.
My observations of the “state of the quarter” are below:
When I started collecting bust quarters, they were undervalued I believed. During the time I collected them, they increased quite a bit in value. I attribute this to a couple important studies and books on the subject raising awareness of the rarity of these beauties (among other reason) especially in comparison to the half dollar version, which on average are much more available in any grade.
For the most part Bust Quarters have remained similar in price during my absence (about ten years.) I have been able to pick up pieces for roughly the same price as I did at the end of my collecting tenure back then.
The 1815 was especially difficult in any problem free grade 15ish years ago, when comparing it to the other dates. Today that disparity has been corrected, and it tends to trade at a higher level than the average date. Here’s one I picked up recently for less than $500, then sent it in for certification. A killer price, in my opinion, it books for a lot more in the PCGS price guide. This is lower in grade than my original example.
Here is another coin I’ve picked up, a Tompkins plate coin, I’ve since sent it in to CAC for a green bean. Price was about what I would expect for a VF30 without the pedigree, so I was happy to pay it.
I question when this series will pop again. In the meantime I’ll add more to my collection when the opportunity dictates, or not. I don’t feel the need to complete the series like I did before
On a side note, the early copper and seated material I used to deal with has increased a lot over the same timeframe…except maybe the most common stuff.
(If you made it through all that, congratulations, you probably don’t have ADHD. 😬😂)
I'm BACK!!! Used to be Billet7 on the old forum.
Comments
A very nice write-up. I found Bust Quarters to be challenging to simply encounter, which may lend to the disparity in value if demand doesn't exist for what's already on the market.
That idea is what drew me to half dimes and seated dimes. Several low mintage dates with a good number of extremely low survival rates. It has only been in recent years that prices started waking up for those series, yet still no place near where they could and probably should be.
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I was discussing Bust Quarters at coin club last night with another member of the club. He showed me a nice example he had recently acquired. Based on my experience with the series, I estimate that about 15% to 20% of Bust Quarters are able to be straight graded. So if you are looking for those, they're more difficult to find than you might expect. And even more so when it comes to the rarities such as 1821 B-6, 1822 25/50, 1823, 1827/3. 1837 B-6.
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
I remember some advice David Kahn gave me pertaining to bust quarters and varieties:
You might have an R-5 quarter, but the person interested in it is likely an R-7. They're an incompletable series except for a few individuals. That said...they're still fun to collect.
From a type collector perspective, it is extremely difficult to find higher grade (AU or better), original, eye appealing, CAC approved examples.
Nothing is as expensive as free money.
Completely agreed. We've only had a few AU or better CAC'd Bust Quarters (probably about 2-3 total) and they flew out of inventory at a blistering pace. We have a very fresh and eye appealing 1825/4/2 in P58 CAC that we made ourselves that I expect to be gone by the end of ANA. Genuinely a difficult series to find with good surface preservation, unfortunately.
Collector of Capped Bust Halves, SLQ's, Commems, and random cool stuff! @davidv_numismatics on Instagram
@SimonW Nice finds, glad to see you back dabbling in quarters. I was collecting the bust quarters alongside “billet7” then I moved more into…Spanish colonial and Latin American republic. I swear I’m not copying you, but just out of curiosity what’s our next move? 🤣
Most bust quarters look pretty beat up, especially compared to their big brothers the bust halves. So that limits collector interest I think. But aside from that, I’ve also been confused as to why the prices for this series lag so much.
Cac quarters in VF or better have moved up somewhat, but other than that I can generally buy them for the same prices as 2011-2014. And the rarest varieties are actually cheaper now than back then! What other series can you say that about??
For a collector this is great, but I can see why dealers are fed up with ‘em at this point.
Great write up, thanks for sharing it with us.
My own observation, going back to when I started building a type set in the late ‘80’s, was that nice XF-AU bust half dimes and half dollars, were relatively abundant. Bust dimes and quarters were much tougher to locate. They must have been the real workhorses of the economy in their time.
I’ve never owned a Large Size quarter, but I certainly admire them. About the closest I came was when a local dealer got in several from what was later known as the Mohawk hoard, with the distinctive damage (crude counter mark?) at the top of the obverse. They were cheap for choice XF quarters, but I hadn’t yet heard of the hoard, and couldn’t look past the damage.
Nice coins Simon!!!
Liberty Seated Half Dollars
Talk about weird timing, I literally just started a PCGS registry set for bust quarters this morning before coming to the boards to check posts. I don't have very many, but for some reason they have recently drawn my attention. I made a total impulse purchase the other day, shown below, on one that motivated me to start the set, mostly to track what I happen to have and don't have. Although I doubt I will pursue the set with great vigor, I am inspired by @SimonW's philosophy of taking it slow and moving when the coin speaks to you as a good value.
Seated Dollar Collection
Nice ones do come along, you just have to be patient. Here are a few recent pickups........... I see them looking like this maybe 5 or so a year.
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@Desert Moon some really fantastic coins there! Same with @Southcounty
@scubafuel I remember well! I think I’ve looked at your registry set more than a couple times! Now that my Spanish colonial stuff is getting harder and harder to upgrade, I’ve been dabbling in Bolivia Republic as a research project, one per Caesar from Julius to Constantine, and one per monarch from England, starting with Athelred II. (Both of those are going to take a long time.) Bust quarters are just an occasional indulgence. What are you collecting with Spanish colonial?
I'm BACK!!! Used to be Billet7 on the old forum.
I stopped collecting these by die-marriage because it would be essentially impossible to accomplish or even approach (for me). However, my Dansco set, to which I have added a few major varieties, is only lacking about eight pieces.
Official PCGS account of:
www.TallahasseeCoinClub.com
I was re remembering THIS coin. Can a coin get better? I doubt it.
I'm BACK!!! Used to be Billet7 on the old forum.
How did the series previously compare to the cost of other US coins typically bought as an alternative?
I scanned Coin Facts for this thread. The counts are low for a US series, but not so low where it will be hard to buy, other than due to budget constraints. Eye appeal isn't liked that much in lower circulated grades while other series have a higher preference at comparable prices in higher circulated grades or above.
I do see it as a better value vs. capped bust halves. I bought an ANACS XF-40 in an old soap holder in the early 2000s at a price similar or even less to my recollection in the 1989 Red Book. Heritage bought it from me off eBay when I sold it, so I assume others viewed it as a decent coin.
My explanation for the capped bust half is that it just got ahead of itself. Maybe this happened to the quarters too.