Silver Quarters Central

With a denomination of 25 cents, the minting of silver quarters was authorized in 1792 with the first silver quarter coins being issued in 1796. Its origins can be traced to the splitting of the Spanish coins into eight sections and the combining of two of these formed the quarter. It was not until 1804 when they were marked with the value of 25c on the reverse side.

Production Years for Silver Quarters

1796-1838

• The first silver quarters issued were from Philadelphia though they had no mint marks and had approximately 90% silver content. They begun being produced from 1796 and these earliest of issues were of the Bust Quarter variety and included: Draped Bust and the Capped Bust mainly. They measured a diameter of 24.3 mm and weighed 6.74gms.

1838-1891

• Next were the  Seated Liberty varieties of 1838 which had 90% silver content with the weight varying between 6.22- 6.68. They were minted from Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco and Carson City and stopped being produced around 1891.

1892-1930

• The next two varieties also had 90% silver content. The Liberty Head, commonly known as the Barber was issued from Philadelphia, Denver, New Orleans and San Francisco from 1892 till 1916 at a weight of 6.25gms. The initial of the designer graces the neck of LIBERTY on these coin varieties which have reeded edges. The Standing Liberty Quarter, minted from 1916-1930, was similar to this only that they never came out of New Orleans; LIBERTY’s breast was covered in these issues. The date was also set into a depression so as to protect it from wear.

1932-1964

• The Washington Quarter of 1932 also had 90% silver though the editions from 1965 on-wards were debased and are known as clad coinage. These issues were similar in weight and dimensions to the earlier two productions and was minted from the same cities as the Standing Liberty issues. Collectors value the early Washington Quarters more highly than the later varieties. Beginning in 1932, silver quarters were minted through several years with their production stopping in 1964- though some silver quarters that were dated 1964 were still in production in 1965 as a transition to nickel-copper coinage was being done.

The End of Silver Quarters

At the opening of the 1960s, a demand for silver led to a shortage that forced the American Treasury to stop the production of coins with such high silver content as the coins were being saved by citizens or melted down for their silver value. As such, the Coinage Act of 1965 led to the removal of silver from American coinage due to the rising prices of silver. The Act was slow in coming into action thus the Treasury continued to strike silver bearing coins right up to 1966. These coins were however dated 1964. As such, the last quarters minted from silver were produced in 1966.

The silver quarters that were being issued as of 1932 were composed of 90% in total silver content, coming to a total weight of about 0.18 ounces. They were majorly minted in San Francisco and Denver and bear mintmarks from these two cities. However, some silver quarters were also struck, though in special occasions and not for general issue.

The Bicentennial Quarter of 1976 was struck to commemorate the 200th anniversary of independence. These were actually minted in 1975 and the following year though they cannot be told apart from each other. These should not be confused with the varieties that came after 1965-in that they have no silver. The Bicentennial variety being spoken of here had 40% in silver content.

Curious about the silver content of quarters? Oddly enough it’s a very old story…

From ancient times, metals such as silver have been used as a medium of trade all over the world. The most expensive and valuable metals, mainly silver and gold, were forged into coins to determine and measure value numerically.

The most valued but expensive metals were traded in for more convenient but light ones. The lighter metals were used to represent the value they held of the more expensive ones. This further evolved into paper money until eventually, today’s paper money which merely represents the value of past hard coinage while not backed by any precious metal or specie.

Silver Content of Quarters in the U.S.

The coin refuses to die off. Instead, it survives every turn by changing from one precious metal to another. Take for instance the American quarter. Since its inception in 1792 with the enactment of the Coinage Act, it has changed metal on several occasions in order to adapt to the changing money markets it operates in. The Mint Act of 1890 made it possible to change coin designs every 25 years.

In 1916, the US Mints in Philadelphia and Denver were still making the Barber quarter but later that year, the Philadelphia Mint began producing the Standing Liberty quarter.

Both coin versions were similar in the quantity of silver contained (approximately 0.1808 ounces) but were designed by two different men.

Charles Barber made the Barber using new technology at the time to create better engraving designs while Herman McNeil produced the Standing Liberty coins.

The Barber later proved to be the more durable craftsmanship. Barber coins were made until 1916 and are approximated to have been about 1,788,000 produced. In comparison, Standing Liberty quarters amount to approximately 52,000 making them the more valuable of the 1916 coins.

The Standing Liberty quarters were produced until 1932 when they were replaced by the Washington silver quarters. The rarest Washington quarters were made in San Francisco and Denver in 1932 and their low production numbers makes these some of the most valuable quarters. They contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper.

The Change in the Silver Content of Quarters

In 1964, however, the shortage of silver “forced” the Congress to initiate some changes in the metal content of these coins. The silver coins were replaced with 75 percent copper coins clad in 25 percent nickel in 1965.

Over its years in circulation, the Washington quarter underwent some redesigns beginning with the mintmark relocation from the reverse to the obverse in 1968 but was returned to its original design in 1977.

In 1992, the silver content was briefly reinstated in the San Francisco Mint. This changed again in 1999 when legislation passed initiating the State Quarter Design in which five states were to be honored by having them included in the reverse of their individual quarters.

The current quarters in circulation are mainly a mix of copper and nickel in the ratio 8.33 percent nickel and 91.67 copper. They are relatively cheap to produce and are designed for durability with modern engraving methods making it all the easier and faster to produce on a large scale.

As you can see the bad news is that the silver content of quarters is now 0% however the good news is you are still able to find old silvers quarters to invest in.