Are State Quarters A Good Investment

Actually, there a two different errors on the Wisconson; both invole extra leaves and their position relative to the actual leaf.

Good question; I've wondered that too, ghostrider. My Red Book is in the other room; too lazy to go see what it has to say. ;)

I have a big jar of State Quarters that I've been accumulating from change for 15 years. I'm at the point where I'm convinced I'll be better cashing them in for silver or buying a safe or something rather than saving them, but want to go through them first. Actually I've been at that point for many years, just have been too lazy (there's that word again) to take the time to go through the thousands of quarters. But would like to have a good list of errors/varieties to look for first so I can knock it out.

Speaking of quarters...I am keeping all the old quarters I come across now as I have a feeling they are going to become more scarce as time goes by. Anyone else think this makes sense? That being said like I mentioned in another thread I have a couple hundred Ike dollars and they really haven't moved in value at all. Sigh....

I too collected every state ever issued 2-3 rolls each and I will tell you they are a very heavy product to keep in a storage container. I do not think ( now ) they will be worth any more than the face value I paid for the rolls, except a few, not counting the Presidential rolls which I also collected for the first 2 years, Some nice errors I hope to find, when I decide to open them... All BU, Vendor Wrapped..........It certainly adds up!!

I too made a few Albums for those using Whitman Blank covers and pages. I stopped at the Park stuff though.
Collecting any modern quarters is OK but just not a really popular coin. Sort of like Jefferson nickels, also not popular. Never could figure out why some coins are popular and others just the opposite. With Nickels it appears that few like Shield nickels, lots love Buffalo nickels, Jefferson nickels are possibly the least popular. With Quarters, I seldom meet anyone that really loves any of them except the Standing Liberty ones and those are really popular.

I think this is because, well . . . to be honest, modern nickels are ugly. I refer to them as the red-headed stepchild of coins--people don't like getting them in change, either. The new Jefferson portrait is a step in the right direction, but the design of Monticello just isn't that interesting--what are you looking for on the nickel reverse? A full set of stairs and, for three years, a large mintmark. Whee! How many brand-new collectors actually find a set of stairs you can only see under a magnifying glass interesting? It's only when you know how rare such things are that they really get you going. Roosevelt dimes (which I personally think are awesome, I love that one of our most awesome Presidents was simultaneously kicking Hitler's butt and also showing the entire world that it's possible to do such a thing while requiring a wheelchair in a time when "handicap-accessible" was completely not a thing) suffer from the same problem: they haven't been redesigned since they were introduced in the 1940s. I think the mintmark was moved when they stopped being silver, but that's the most exciting thing about them, really, for the novice.

And then, of course, quarters are prohibitively expensive if you're doing large sets. The State collection (sans territories) is only $12 from circulation, but if you want one of each mint it's $36 . . . plus the territories and DC easily push it up over $50 . . . and that's for just one series. Now imagine you want one, just one, of each quarter since the year Washington was put on the quarter. I can't do the math past the State series because I'm not sure how many Territory quarters there are, but just going through the State series takes you up to almost thirty bucks--and that's just face value. Now try to buy even circulated examples of some of the silver Washingtons. It gets expensive fast.


By comparison, the penny is rather exciting even for the novice--there are wheatbacks that are still pretty easy to find, and occasionally you may even find an IHC in your pocket change (in the last year I've found two in my drawer, a 1906 and a 1908). With the exception of keys like the 1914-S and the VDB, most pennies beginning with 1909 can still be found in circulation without a minor miracle occurring. Lincoln's portrait is stately and well-drawn, and the different varieties of reverse keep things interesting. In that respect, toning is also a mark in the penny's favour--young collectors may be fascinated by the contrast of shiny and dark pennies, and may enjoy seeking out bright, shiny coppers.

I personally think that with the exception of the quarter all US currency needs a revamping.

I'd really like to see a new circulating half dollar and dollar put in an appearnace. They are all outdated. All they did to update and modernize the penny was slap a shield on the reverse and call it new and interesting.

I'd also be interested in seeing a $5 coin almost the size of the Morgan.

I know that it would never happen but somehow the idea of coins over paper money sure seems like a money saver.