US Quarters

John Reich took over the design of the 1815 quarter. He made the coin larger in diameter by several millimeters, gave Lady Liberty a cap, revised the appearance of the Heraldic Eagle, and added a banner with "E Pluribus Unum" (which means "out of many, one") above the bird’s head. Certain coins minted in 1822, 1823, and 1827 are especially rare.

This Capped Bust design lasted until 1831 (although coins were not minted every year), when William Kneass reduced the coin’s diameter and removed the motto on its reverse. Through 1838, larger numbers of coins were struck—hundreds of thousands in most years, and almost 2 million in 1835. That’s why prices for these quarters are modest compared to the ones that preceded them.

Christian Gobrecht’s Seated Liberty Quarters came next. The same design was used on half dimes, dimes, half dollars, and dollars, as well as twenty-cent pieces. Almost half a million coins were struck in 1838 when the new design debuted, and robust production levels were maintained until 1891, when the Seated Liberty made way for Charles Barber’s Liberty Head.

Engraver Barber’s 1892-to-1916 quarter is considered by many collectors to be the most beautiful execution of Lady Liberty on a coin. Because millions of coins were minted every year, the supply of these coins is great, which makes then a favorite of beginning collectors on a budget.

Standing Liberty quarters are noteworthy for the outcry they caused upon being issued in 1916. For many citizens, the coin was obscene since Lady Liberty, who is now standing between the words "In God We Trust" with a shield in her hand, is nude from the waist up. The next year, 1917, she was clothed in a sleeveless top of tightly linked chain mail—modesty, and Liberty’s virtue, had prevailed.

Washington quarters bring us to the present. From 1932 until 1964, silver quarters featuring America’s first president on the obverse and an eagle on the reverse lit up jukeboxes and dropped Coca-Colas from vending machines throughout the land. In 1965, silver quarters became copper quarters with silver skins. In 1976, the eagle on the quarter’s reverse took a year off for the country’s bicentennial—it was replaced in that year alone by an image of a colonial drummer, which was designed by Jack L. Ahr.

At the tail end of the 20th Century, in 1999, the State Quarters program was launched. Washington remained on the coin’s obverse, but during each year from 1999 through 2008, the reverse of these quarters would feature one of five designs to commemorate America’s 50 states. The coins proved incredibly popular, as young people and adults alike filled books with examples of each coin, minted in the order of statehood.

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