Bicentennial Quarters In Change

If it is Franklin Street, then nothing surprises me.

Interesting that you have been on a 'run' of these lately ... and of course collect whatever gives you pleasure.

A note about the 1976 Bicentennial quarters ... there were over 1.70 billion clad circulation strikes of these minted between Philly and Denver ... as such they will never have a circulated numismatic value above face ... 25 cents.

There is a interesting and valuable variety ... the 1976-D doubled die obverse quarter with very strong doubling of the legend LIBERTY.

I examine all my 1976-D quarters in hopes of finding the DDO ... and spend the rest.

David

I count the drawer at work every morning and I see at least 1 every day. The one day there was 6. I'm not sure if its the sames ones getting given back as tips, but they are out there.

Same as what davec13 said. I start out with a roll of quarters every drawer I get. I see at least one almost every day.

At one time (~1979) less than 20% of this issue was in circulation. Over 1.6 billion were made by the two mints but the coins barely circulated at all. This number drifted between 20 and 25% until the states quarters started appearing frequently in circulation (mid-'99), and then the bicentennials became far more common. They are still increasing and up to around 60% at this time.

Curiously, most of those seen are high grade. This suggests that they have a lower velocity and that hoarders might have a preference for worn coins. It's not at all unusual to actually receive an Unc in change.

I'd guess that more than 95% of these have wear now but the wear tends to be minimal. By the time one gets to VF it has been snapped up by someone who saves every one. Average grade is XF+/ AU-. This is a common coin in Unc but the demand is high enough to give it a little premium. BU rolls are readily available. Gems are not too difficult and the nicest ones appear in 1976 mint sets rather than the '75.

I save them and when I have a full roll, I list it on ebay for $17.76.

No. "Unc" is a grade not a condition.

As a grade it is defined as having complete and unbroken luster as it was made.

Wear starts at the highest points of a coin and works down. This means the high points will be the first to lose their luster but a coin can change hands several times before it's broken.

To find the high point on a coin hold it betwen your eye and a bright incandescent light source. Tip it back and forth from being straight on and sideways while you're looking for the high points. They will seem to rise above the field when the coin is tipped just right.

Now look at these high points straight on. If the coin is Unc they'll be the same color and texture as the rest of the coin. If they are broken then usually you'll see a grey color and often a little roughness or tiny scratches. This would be an AU coin.

It takes practice to tell the different looks and some can fool even experts. Beware of coins that are "shiny" or have any unusual texture since these might have been alterred to appear Unc.

I think the phenomena of seeing 1 per day can be explained by how people collect these. There are two camps of people when it comes to bicentennial quarters--actual collectors and hoarders. Actual collectors have maybe one or two in BU condition, maybe plus the proofs and 40% silver releases. Hoarders most likely have $10-200+ worth, and tend to dump them all at once when times get tough or they realize they can't bring them to a coin show and retire. Thus, the supply is in a constant state of flux as people hoard, dump, and repeat.

I was a cashier from 2008-2011, and I saw a similar pattern--the tills would become flooded with 1-5 coins per day for about a month, and then it would slow down to a trickle or even dry up for months at a time until someone made another dump. I used to put them in the "miscellaneous" slot in my till and hand them out as change to people with small children or grandmother-type customers. Always nice to brighten somebody's day a little.