To foster coin collecting, the U.S. Mint released 10 million W-mint mark quarters in 2019 and 2020, the first time the West Point facility had been used to make circulating coinage. The low-mintage represented a mere 1% of all quarters produced in those years, raising interest in the hobby along with values, especially since the Mint mixed Denver and Philadelphia issues in bulk bags sent to banks.
Ergo, you can still find these desired coins in pocket change, although after so many years the they typically will have been circulated, in lower grades due to wear. Typically they sell for below $50. But if you can find any of these W-mint mark America the Beautiful quarters with mint errors, values increase dramatically.
Errors are scarce in this series because the Mint wanted to ensure that these special issues were as pristine as possible. The lack of major errors, such as mules or double dies, has spiked values for otherwise common or slight design deviations.
This article discusses how to identify discovered–and yet to be discovered–errors in the series.
These are the five 2019-W quarter designs:
- Lowell National Historical Park in Massachusetts
- American Memorial Park in the Northern Mariana Islands
- War in the Pacific National Historical Park in Guam
- San Antonio Missions National Historical Park in Texas
- Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in Idaho
These are the five 2020-W quarter designed, which also contain a privy mark celebrating the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II.
- National Park of American Samoa in the U.S. territory of American Samoa
- Weir Farm National Historic Site located in the state of Connecticut
- Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve in the U.S. Virgin Islands territory,
- Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Vermont
- Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Kansas
Struck through coins are the most frequent error in W-mint mark quarters. This occurs when a clogged die strikes the planchet with a mixture of lubricant and metal dust.
Here is an example from eBay:
The 2020 American Samoa Quarter features a fruit bat, with the mother bat hanging upside down holding her offspring. Here’s the official design:
A dramatic error exists with the Samoa quarter. A strike-through occurred on multiple coins, obscuring part or all of the mother bat’s face.
Here’s a PCGS example:
This raw version was offered on eBay:
There are other less dramatic examples of the struck-through error, such as the obverse of the coin below, which would have been a low-value mistake had it not occurred on a W-mint mark quarter:
To help you discover the various possible mint errors, see this illustrated coin glossary, from which these examples have been taken. Again, keep in mind, that many of these errors have not been discovered but are theoretically possible. Click the glossary link above to see visual depictions:
BROAD STRUCK: A minting error resulting in a coin outside its collar.
CLIPPED: A planchet missing part of its design when the blank in question was improperly punched
CUD: A flaw that raises metal near the collar or edge, caused by a damaged die at the mint.
DIE CHIP: A small piece of metal not part of the original design comes into contact with the metal dies.
DIE CRACK: A defective line caused by a faulty die.
DOUBLING: Also known as hub doubling and double die, a coin that underwent a bounce on the die, leaving two images on the surface, as opposed to machine doubling caused by a loose die with little numismatic value. (See HUB DOUBLING, MACHINE DOUBLING.)
LAMINATION ERROR: A portion of a coin’s planchet due to impurities of the planchet.
MISALIGNED COLLAR: A strike in which the die does not square up perfectly with obverse or reverse, resulting in a partial collar or mint error, usually not very valuable. (See COLLAR.)
MULE: A coin whose obverse and reverse are meant for different coins. The quarter below has a dollar reverse.
MISSING MINT MARK: Because there was only one mint in Philadelphia in the early 19th Century, no mint mark was used. However, the “P” mint mark appears on coins from 1942-1945. Beginning in1980 all of Philadelphia’s coins (except cent) have the “P” mint mark. The W-mint mark was used on America the Beautiful quarters in 2019 and 2020.
REPUNCHED: A variety of a coin whose date or mintmark seems double struck.
STRUCK THROUGH GREASE: A clogged die that strikes with a mixture of lubricant and metal dust.
Here is an eBay example of a clipped W-mint mark quarter:
You’ll notice that the above clip appears on the American Samoa quarter–the same with the struck-through faceless or blind mother bat. Imagine the desirability of this coin containing both errors! Theoretically, it could exist. So can other W-mint mark quarters with multiple errors.
That said, be especially wary about bidding or buying raw error coins in the W-mint mark series. For instance, unscrupulous sellers can use a clipping tool to create their self-made error. Also, often sellers just say “error!” and expect you to believe it.
There is no hub doubling on this coin:
Likewise, this is loose-die machine doubling–note the flatness of the letters–not a DD error at all.
Here is a common struck-through error caused by metal dust that happened to blur the “S” in “Trust,” and yet the seller asks for a fantastic amount for this low-grade quarter:
Finally, if you just wish to have a collection of these W-mint mark 2019 and 2020 quarters, you can purchase uncirculated ones for about $100. Here’s an eBay example:
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