Collecting Quarters of the U.S.: Twenty-five Cents at a Time

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Collecting Quarters of the U.S.
Twenty-five Cents at a Time

FIND U.S. QUARTER COINS FOR SALE

Quarter dollar coins have existed in the United States since the 1790s, and were made primarily of silver until 1965. Collecting quarters is a lot of fun due to the large variety that exists and also because of the familiarity of the coins. Quarter coins are still important in everyday transactions and seeing the development of the coins over the decades is a fascinating hobby.

Collecting Quarters of Different Types

From 1796 to 1807, the first U.S. quarter coin was the draped bust quarter. It showed the figure of Liberty, who would feature on most U.S. coins during the nineteenth century. In 1815 a new design, known as the capped bust quarter, was issued.

In 1839, the long-lasting seated Liberty quarter was released to the public. Americans seemed to like the coin but after several decades started pushing for an update to the design. This prompted the redesign known as the Barber quarter (after designer Charles Barber). The Barber quarter coin would be used from 1892 until 1916.

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At the onset of World War I, a “standing Liberty” quarter design, with militaristic design elements among its appeals for peace, was issued. The standing Liberty quarter design had problems in its manufacturing process, and although these were occasionally corrected as necessary, the design was scrapped altogether in 1930. This made way for a new quarter honoring founding father George Washington. President Washington has appeared on the U.S. quarter coin ever since.

A Reduction in Silver: The 1960s

In 1965, the silver content of quarters was dropped in favor of a copper and nickel mixture, though the design wasn’t changed. The first major redesign of the Washington quarter coin came in 1999 with the introduction of the 50 state quarter project. Exciting for collectors and fans of the geographical United States, this series saw all fifty states plus Washington, D.C. and several overseas territories get their own reverse designs.

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In 2010 a new America the Beautiful series was begun, with five coins each year commemorating a different national park or national site on the reverse. Ol’ George Washington remained on the obverse.

Collecting Quarters Today

The first thing to do when collecting quarters from the United States is to ask yourself what is your goal? How will you structure your collection? There are any number of approaches and none is better than any other. Just go with what you like.

Some ideas for collecting quarters:

  • Get one of each type. Look for a nice example, whose details can be seen, from each design from U.S. quarter history.
  • Collect all of one type. Pick your favorite design and trey to get a complete set from each year and/or of each design.
  • Get a coin from the first year of each design. Similar to the first option above, but focusing on the first extant year.
  • Random “I know what I like” style. Just watch sales listings and jump on the quarters that appeal to you, whenever and wherever they’re from. Let your instinct be your guide, pedantic lists be damned!

Browse 1,354 current U.S. quarter coins for sale offers here

Of course, whatever method you adopt to collect quarter coins, you may be constrained by budget and what’s available at any given time from online vendors. For the former situation, you’ll have to save and budget carefully, maybe picking up other coins as trade bait.

As for the latter point, you’re in luck. Sellers offering quarter coins for collectors and buyers are plentiful and the selection in online sales marketplace changes often. Watch as new listings come and go, and be sure to move fast if you see something you like. Collecting quarters can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. There’s a huge world of United States quarter collectibles out there just waiting to be hoarded! 

U.S. quarter coins for sale

Currently showing our top 1,353 listings from eBay vendors, and our favorite 1 sale from Amazon. Click for shipping details and money-back guarantee info. U.S. quarter coins listings are chosen using MegaMinistore's original custom technology. We show you only the latest and best listings from safe, trusted sellers. Offers are updated and refreshed every day.

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Showing 11 - 20 of 1,354

Lovely PCGS XF45 - 1875 CC - 20c Seated Liberty Twenty Cent Carson City NV Mint

Seller: yesisbest ★★★★★★★★★★ 100% (13,248 ratings)
Location: United States

$1,195.00

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Wisconsin Leaf Quarter Very Rare

Seller: givemeliberty69
Location: United States

$999.00 or best offer

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2019 War In The Pacific Silver 5 oz Quarter America The Beautiful Guam ATB COA

Seller: scottyl1972 ★★★★★★★★★★ 100% (101 ratings)
Location: United States

$220.00 or best offer

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1921 XF45 Standing Liberty Quarter,​ PCGS 45405919

Seller: rafco_llc ★★★★★★★★★★ 99.3% (376 ratings)
Location: United States

$1,044.99 or best offer

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1831 capped bust quarter Pcgs Xf45 CAC

Seller: rimoe_40 ★★★★★★★★★★ 100% (538 ratings)
Location: United States

$900.00 or best offer

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1838 CAPPED BUST QUARTER ICG MS-60 DETAILS - UNCIRCULATED BUST QUARTER SLAB -25C

Seller: coinsr_us ★★★★★★★★★★ 99.6% (6,985 ratings)
Location: United States

$1,100.00 or best offer

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1934 DDO Double Die Silver Washington Quarter "VERY STRONG DOUBLING*

Seller: roadh_1068 ★★★★★★★★★★ 98.8% (83 ratings)
Location: United States

$975.00 or best offer

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1969 Washington Quarter NO Mint Mark

Seller: zeielza-40
Location: United States

$600.00 or best offer

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2018-S Voyageurs National Park (MN) 1x Quarter From US Mint Roll ~ Low Mintage

Seller: scd_coins ★★★★★★★★★★ 100% (4 ratings)
Location: United States

$5.00 or best offer

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1897-S Barber Quarter | Good | 542,​229 Mintage Semi-Key | Silver | Free Shipping

Seller: oceansidecandc ★★★★★★★★★★ 99.9% (3,203 ratings)
Location: United States

$99.99

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