The Washington Quarter was originally introduced in 1932 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of George Washington. Although the coin was only intended to be issued for one year, the design proved so popular that it continued to be used in the following years. A modified version of the obverse continues to be used to this day for the twenty five cent denomination.
The designer of the Washington Quarter was John Flanagan. The obverse of the coin features the head of George Washington facing left with inscriptions “Liberty” and “In God We Trust”. The reverse of the coin features an eagle with outstretched wings, perched on a bundle of arrows with olive branches beneath. The reverse inscriptions read “United States of America”, “E Pluribus Unum”, and “Quarter Dollar”.
The long running series has been produced at the Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco Mints. The original composition of 90% silver and 10% copper was used from 1932 to 1964 before being replaced with the copper nickel clad composition. Mintages have ranged widely over they years, with widespread circulation throughout the United States. After the introduction of State Quarters in 1999, the series has gained in popularity and prices for many issues have risen considerably.
Washington Quarters have two primary key date coins, the 1932-D and 1932-S issues, which had mintages of just over 400,000. The highest mintage occurred in 1995 when the Philadelphia and Denver Mints each produced more than one billion quarters.
This site will provide a basic history and background of the Washington Quarter series, along with information on the specifications and mintages of each coin in the series. Specific articles will focus on key dates and other important issues.