Why are 1982, 1983, and 1986 Washington Quarters worth so much?

Value guides have the 1982D, 1983D/P and 1986P as worth way more than they should be.

Why? None of those dates are particularly rare. And the 1983D has a higher mintage than any of the others.

 

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A couple of reasons.

First, there were not any US Mint sets for 1982 and 1983 and the quality of the coins that were made was terrible. As such, not many were set aside.
Additionally, it's possible that full bags of these never made it to banks making it even more difficult to find full complete rolls. I'm not sure but perhaps like the America the Beautiful quarters?

As or 1986, I have no idea other than the fact that coins simply were not saved by the roll in that period.

And if you think 1982, 1983, and 1986 are expensive, try finding original bank rolls of 1970, 1971, 1972, etc.

Original Bank Rolls mustn't be confused with rolls created from US Mint Set of which there are more than enough to go around. I'm referring to original bank wrapped rolls.

 

Something you find out too late to do anything about it.

 

Its one of those things where I simply didn't get it. There was a dealer I knew who told me to store a few bags of 1982 and 1983 coins, since people aren't appreciating the fact that most BU coins come from mint sets. Of course I didn't listen to him, succumbing to the common idea at the time that moderns will never be worth collecting.

So I didn't buy them like I should have. My dealer friend did, he bought a few mint bags of every denomination for 1982 and 1983. Unfortunately he was older back then, so he passed away in the late 1990's, before these things really exploded in price. I wish he could have enjoyed the sky high prices later on.

 

That's too bad but he was smart enough to listen. I was like you. Didn't buy what I though would have been common date coins. Now I buy rolls, boxes and bags of whatever I can for a reasonable price and tuck them away. I can always sell them for face, pretty much what I pay so what's the big deal?

 

I might know why, that was the last time the New York Mets won the World Series in Baseball! (From my collection)

 

I've only got a few bank rolls: 2009 nickels, 2010 pennies, 2011 dimes, and 2 rolls of Blue Ridge Parkway quarters.

Sad thing is I wasn't even alive during the 1980s otherwise I would have been scouring the banks for uncirculated bank rolls of any kind

 

That's definitely got to be the case - make sure to save every coin of every kind the next time the Mets win in 2315!

 

Well for 1982/1983 they are worth more conditionally of course because the lack of mint sets which limits the number of high grade coins that got saved those years. I have no idea why 1986 are showing a high value though unless it's a conditional rarity thing.

 

I was active in the 80's and collected Kennedy Half Dollar Rolls with the goal of having a complete roll set.

I did pick out 82's and 83's for my Dansco but my thumb was not placed on the pulse of the industry (the Internet was just a twinkle in Daddy's eye) at the time so no rolls were set aside. ALL US Mint orders were via Snail Mail.

I remember going to a bank in Austin Texas and inquiring about bags of Half Dollars. The Vault Teller wanted to tack on a $50 to $100 service charge just for ordering them so I passed.

I too am of the philosophy that if I new then what I know now that I'd be rich! What with Microsoft Shares being at $21 a pop and all.

The only counter to that is wise purchasing practices today for 25 years from now.

 

A peek at the PCGS Price Guide reveals the answer to the 1986 question.

MS66 grades grab a premium in MS66 so the hopes are that an original roll will cough up some MS66 coins.

 

Will have to keep an eagle eye on mint production figures and the market. But then again, there's always the chance that the treasury will find MILLIONS AND MILLIONS of 1980s quarters, GSA-seal them and destroy the value that they used to have

 

There are literally TONS of coins stashed away of all types in private vaults in the usa a-la the "Vegas Hoard" of silver dollars found not long ago and dumped on the market and it messed up values for us all....

 

Its a good point. People need to remember there are millions of people with coins in SDB. Some of them, like me, own original rolls of mercury dimes, 1939d nickels, and have boxes upon boxes of classic coins that have never been graded or seen by any TPG. Heck, my SL half collection was about 50 pieces in XF/AU by the time I quit collecting, and not one slabbed.

Never think that even like something like the ANA show is anything more than like one tenth of one percent AT MOST of the coins out there. More like one thousandth of one percent. Coins are an extremely thinly traded commodity, and at any time a surge can come in a punk the market for a while.

 

People miss the point about these coins and most moderns in general. The reality is far more rolls of '82 and '83 coins were saved than almost any other date of that era. Probably 80,000 '82-P quarters were saved and 120,000 '83-P. I doubt there were even 20,000 1981-P's saved. A few people saved the '82/ '83 because they knew there would be no mint sets but most of them were just collectors who wanted a coin for their sets and maybe a few extra for trading. They made mint sets every year but few people collected the coins and those who did tended to collect pennies, nickels, and half dollars. Very few people collected circulating clad. The market for something like '80-P quarters was swamped by 2 1/2 million mint sets. There was no value to these coins and still isn't really.

When the demand for the non mint set coins materialized many of the rolls became available for sale at high prices but the demand was still very thin. In 1984 mint set production resumed and saving of rolls began to taper off again. It continued dropping in '85 and '86 to almost as low as it had been historically. But then in 1986 the mint began computerizing their customer lists and somehow large numbers of people who were accustomed to recieving an order form for mint sets each year didn't get them. Many regular customers missed their mint and proof sets that year and this combined with the lower setting aside of rolls made the quarters tough again this year.

There are conflating factors at play here. Since most Gems come from mint sets it's extremely difficult to find nice well made coins among the few that were set ade in '82/ '83. I'm of the opinion that true Gems of the '82-P don't really even exist. All specimens exhihit strike, die, or handling deficiencies. I have one coin I consider a virtual Gem but in 33 years of systematic searching I simply haven't seen anything else that even approaches being a true Gem. The best examples are in the Numismatic News and the Paul and Judy mint sets. Souvenir sets awful. Bag coins are horrendous. My finest specimen was tracked down to a bank in East Chicago IN in 1982. It came from a very choice bag that yielded several very nice coins.

1986 coins were pretty well made and Gems exist in the mint set. While the coin is tough the price is largely speculative because there are ample numbers for the tiny demand.

Most modern markets are kindda hard to figure. Most modern coins are vastly underappreciated and few people realize how few exist. They are percieved as common so they aren't collected. Most of the mint sets and rolls are gone now because there's no demand.

 

This is incredibly detailed and interesting! You'll have to come to UCLA and teach a class sometime

 

so is a 1983 quarter well circulated worth any more than face value.

 

I have 1964silver quarters 1957 silver quarter 1974S red dye quarter 1980 and 1927M silver quarter whats the value

 

@hawaiiangirl
Silver Melt value for the pre 1965 Quarters is about $2.75 each.

I don't know what red die for your 1974 means?

1980 is normal.. Worth 25 cents

 

Thanks for the imfo