1983-D Washington Quarter

no mint sets were produced in 1982 or 1983. few bags were saved by dealers or collectors. so mint state examples, especially gems- are uncommon and command a healthy premium. Your Extra-Fine example is pretty well preserved considering that this is a 30 year old quarter. cool find- but if you can- try to get yourself some gems - especially in the raw- where they are cheaper.

Remember that this is a conditional rarity. There were plenty of 1982 and 1983 coins minted, just not plenty of high grade ones available.

OK, they made 618 million of them.

Around 140,000,000 have been lost oe destroyed.

Of the ~475 million that still exist;

100,000,000 are damaged, tarnished, or heavily worn.
350,000,000 are in VG+ to XF- condition in circulation.
20,000,000 are in XF- to AU+ condition and not currently circulating.(most are unattractive)
5,000,000 are held by collectors and in no danger of getting circulated.

Of the 5,000,000 in no danger most are solid and attractive AU- to MS-61.

About 250,000 are solid but unattractive BU (MS-60-62)
About 100,000 are solid and attractive BU (MS-63)
5,000 are MS-64 (very attractive to near Gem)
A hundred are true Gems.
A few are probably choice Gems.

This date is much more common in nice shape than the '83-P or '82-P.

The '82-P might not even exist in true well struck Gem. Clean examples can be found only with great effort and they will almost invariably be struck by dies that are worn AND misaligned. They rarely have enough die pressure to strike true Gems anyway. The services overgrade these dates. I've seen many thousands of BU '82-P quarters since 1982 and a mere handfull were clean. Finding them clean is much easier thabn finding new dies or full strikes.

The '83-D has quite similar problems except dies tend to be better. With this date it's finmding them clean and well struck that is tough. I might be too charitable but I'd grade this coin a solid AU-50 (AU-) but fairly attractive except for the obverse chicken scratching (retained planchet marking). It can be graded lower since it's not especially attractiive for its grade.

Found quite a few 81s - 84s in my clad jar last night. Nothing looking high grade though. Actually, some of the nicest were from the 60s.

Rick

Although 83-D is not as tough as 83-P I would pull that coin out of circulation but it's not something I'd pay a premium for because it is not uncirculated. When you buy ANY 82 or 83 coin from U.S.A. remember that these where the two years that no mint Sets were made. So this makes those two years key dates in post 1964 area in terms of quality eye appeal on uncirculated coins. Make sure you are buying a good strike with a minimal amount of contact marks (on a Washington quarter especially look for no measurable with a ruler mark on Washington's cheek) and attractive toning which for a clad quarter look for more golden color rather than dull grey. If it were me I'd look for at least an MS-64 and would try to get an MS-65.

Roughly $0.40 to $0.80