Any US quarter dated 1964 or earlier is 90 percent silver and worth its metal, which is approximately $5 to $10 at recent silver prices, far above face value. Quarters from 1965 onward are copper-nickel clad and worth 25 cents, with a short list of exceptions: the 2019 and 2020 W mint mark quarters, a few well-known state quarter errors, silver proofs from collector sets and genuine mint errors. The real rarities are older. The 1932-D and 1932-S Washington quarters are worth $100 or more even when worn, the 1916 Standing Liberty quarter runs into the thousands, and a handful of Barber quarters from the 1890s and 1900s are worth hundreds to thousands.
Quick answer
- Quarters from 1965 on are worth 25 cents; 1964 and earlier are silver, worth melt value.
- Check the date, the mint mark and the edge for a copper stripe.
- 1932-D, 1932-S, 1916 and 1918/7-S Standing Liberty and key Barber dates are worth $100 to five figures.
How to check yours, step by step
- Look at the edge first. Hold a stack of quarters sideways. A copper-colored stripe running around the edge means clad, struck 1965 or later. A solid silver-gray edge with no stripe means 90 percent silver, dated 1964 or earlier, or a silver proof. The silver quarters guide covers melt value in detail.
- Identify the design. Washington's head facing left is the Washington quarter (1932 to today). A full-length standing woman holding a shield is the Standing Liberty quarter (1916-1930). A woman's head wearing a laurel and a cap, with LIBERTY on a headband, is the Barber quarter (1892-1916). A seated figure is the Seated Liberty quarter from before 1892.
- Read the date. Washington quarters have it under the bust. Standing Liberty quarters have it on the base of the step at Liberty's feet, where it wore away quickly; many are dateless. Barber quarters have it below the head.
- Find the mint mark in the right place. Washington 1932-1964: reverse, below the eagle's wreath. Washington 1968 onward: obverse, to the right of the ponytail. Standing Liberty: obverse, just left of the date on the base of the step. Barber: reverse, below the eagle's tail. D is Denver, S is San Francisco, W is West Point, P or no letter is Philadelphia.
- Check modern quarters for W. A W to the right of Washington's ponytail on a 2019 or 2020 quarter is one of the West Point circulation strikes, released in small numbers to encourage coin hunting.
- Check state quarters for the known errors. The 2004-D Wisconsin (look at the left side of the corn for an extra leaf), the 2005 Minnesota (an extra tree among the pines), the 1999 Delaware (a die crack in front of the horse's mouth) and the 2005-P Kansas (a weak R in TRUST so it reads IN GOD WE RUST). The state quarters guide has more detail and photos to compare.
- Grade the condition last. On a Washington quarter, look at the hair above the ear and the eagle's breast feathers. On a Standing Liberty quarter, look at Liberty's head and knee. Full detail with mint luster is uncirculated.
Quarters by era
These are approximate values for coins without cleaning, holes or heavy scratches. Silver values assume silver around $30 to $40 an ounce; at other prices, scale the melt figure.
| Era and type | Silver content | Typical common date, worn | Key dates and what they bring |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seated Liberty, 1838-1891 | 90% | $15-40 | Carson City and low mintage dates, hundreds to thousands |
| Barber, 1892-1916 | 90% | $6-15 | 1896-S and 1913-S $700-2,000+ worn, 1901-S $5,000+ worn |
| Standing Liberty, 1916-1930 | 90% | $8-20 dated, melt if dateless | 1916 $4,000-8,000+ worn, 1918/7-S $1,000-2,500+ worn |
| Washington silver, 1932-1964 | 90% | Melt, about $5-7 | 1932-D and 1932-S $100-200+ worn |
| Washington clad, 1965-1998 | None | 25 cents | Errors only; 1976 bicentennial silver from sets |
| State quarters, 1999-2008 | None | 25 cents | 2004-D Wisconsin extra leaf $50-200, others $5-100 |
| America the Beautiful, 2010-2021 | None | 25 cents | 2019-W and 2020-W $3-15 circulated |
| 2022 onward (Women, Semiquincentennial) | None | 25 cents | Errors only |
Washington key dates, 1932-1964
The Washington quarter began in 1932, a Depression year, and Denver struck only 436,800 and San Francisco 408,000. Both are the key dates of the series.
| Coin | Good | Fine to Very Fine | Uncirculated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1932-D | $100-200 | $150-350 | $1,000-thousands |
| 1932-S | $100-200 | $150-250 | $1,000+ |
| 1936-D, 1937-S, 1955-D | Melt plus a little | $10-30 | $30-150 |
| 1950-D/S and 1950-S/D overmintmarks | $30-60 | $60-150 | $300+ |
| Common date 1932-1964 | Melt | Melt | $8-20 |
The 1932-D is the scarcer of the two in high grades. Both are faked by adding a mint mark to a 1932 Philadelphia coin, so the mint mark shape matters.
Standing Liberty and Barber keys
The 1916 Standing Liberty quarter had a mintage of only about 52,000 and is the key to the whole quarter series; altered 1917 coins are the usual fake. The 1918/7-S is an overdate, with traces of a 7 under the 8, visible under magnification. The 1927-S is scarce in better grades. Barber quarters are mostly worn smooth, and their keys are 1896-S, 1901-S and 1913-S, all San Francisco coins with tiny mintages.
Standing Liberty quarters come in two types. The 1916 and early 1917 coins (Type 1) show Liberty with a bare breast; from 1917 she wears chain mail (Type 2), and from 1925 the date was recessed so it would stop wearing off. Collectors pay a premium for "full head" coins, where the helmet details and hair are completely struck, but that applies mainly to uncirculated pieces. For worn coins, what matters is a readable date. Seated Liberty quarters, struck before the Barber design, are scarce in any grade and start well above melt; Carson City (CC) coins and dates with tiny mintages run into the thousands.
What a silver quarter sells for
Every pre-1965 quarter holds 0.1808 troy ounces of pure silver. That sets a floor that moves with the silver price every day.
| Silver spot price | Melt value per quarter | Roll of 40 |
|---|---|---|
| $25 per oz | about $4.50 | about $180 |
| $30 per oz | about $5.40 | about $217 |
| $40 per oz | about $7.25 | about $290 |
| $50 per oz | about $9.05 | about $362 |
Dealers usually buy common silver quarters close to melt, sometimes a little under, and sell them a little over. The collector premiums in the tables above sit on top of this floor, so a worn 1932-D is never worth less than its silver.
Modern quarters worth more than face
- 2019-W and 2020-W. West Point struck about 2 million of each design for circulation, around 10 million a year spread across five designs, and mixed them into ordinary bags. Worn ones sell for about $3 to $15, uncirculated more. The 2020-W coins also carry a small V75 privy mark marking the end of the Second World War.
- Silver proofs. From 1992 the Mint has sold silver proof sets with S mint mark quarters, 90 percent silver until 2018 and 99.9 percent from 2019. They are worth melt or a little above. Clad proofs are worth $1 to $5.
- The 1976 bicentennial quarter with the drummer reverse is worth 25 cents unless it is a 40 percent silver S coin from a collector set. The bicentennial quarter guide explains how to tell.
- Famous errors. The best-known is a 1970-S proof quarter struck on a 1941 Canadian 25 cent piece, a coin that sells for five figures. Ordinary errors such as off-center strikes and clipped planchets run from about $10 to a few hundred dollars.
Common mistakes
- Judging silver by color. Toned clad quarters look gray and bright clad ones look silver. The edge is the reliable test.
- Expecting every old quarter to be rare. A 1964 quarter is silver but extremely common. It is worth melt, not a collector premium.
- Looking for the mint mark in the wrong spot. It moved from the reverse to the obverse in 1968. A 1950s quarter with nothing next to the ponytail is normal.
- Mistaking the 1999 Delaware die crack for a rarity. It is a real, collectible variety, but worth $5 to $20, not hundreds.
- Treating colored or plated quarters as errors. Gold-plated and colorized quarters were sold as souvenirs. They are worth less than face to collectors.
- Calling a dateless Standing Liberty quarter a 1916. Without a readable date it cannot be attributed and is worth melt.
- Cleaning silver quarters. It removes the collector premium on key dates and higher grades.
What to photograph
- The obverse straight on, so the design and date are clear.
- A macro of the mint mark area, on the reverse below the eagle for 1932-1964, or beside the ponytail for 1968 onward.
- The edge, ideally a small stack photographed side-on, to show stripe or no stripe.
- The date close up on Standing Liberty quarters, with light from the side, since worn dates read better with raking light.
- The design area for state errors: the Wisconsin corn, the Minnesota trees, the Delaware horse's mouth.
- An angled-light photo for any coin that might be uncirculated.
Daylight, no flash and the phone parallel to the coin give the clearest result.
When to get it looked at in person
Silver quarters of common dates do not need grading. A dealer pays close to melt for them, and that is the real market. For the key dates the picture changes. A 1932-D, 1932-S, 1916 Standing Liberty, 1918/7-S or 1901-S should be seen by an expert before it is sold, both to rule out an added mint mark or altered date and because a PCGS or NGC holder raises what buyers pay.
- A local coin dealer can confirm the date and mint mark in a minute, usually at no charge. Expect offers below retail.
- PCGS or NGC charge fees starting in the tens of dollars per coin, rising with declared value and turnaround, plus shipping and a membership or dealer submission. Worth it for coins likely to sell above about $150.
- For state quarter errors, grading only pays for strong examples in uncirculated condition.
When selling a mixed lot, separate it first. Put the clad quarters back into circulation or the bank, sell common silver by weight or face value to a dealer or bullion buyer, and offer the key dates and errors individually. Mixing a 1932-D into a bag of junk silver is the most common way a valuable quarter gets sold for melt. If the lot came from an estate with other coins, the Kennedy half dollar guide covers the silver halves that often turn up alongside.