San Francisco Mint NIFC Business Strike ATB Quarters Discussion

The San Francisco quarters are NIFC. They are sold direct from the Mint in rolls or bags. Their survival rate would be higher for the better grades, assuming the gems were plucked straight from these rolls and bags. The ones you are finding in circulation are the rejects. It is cheaper to spend them than sell them, especially with the high grade gems cover the costs.

The West Point coins are not sold by the Mint for collectors. They are only found in circulation. The gems would need to be pulled from circulation as soon as possible. More damage can be done to them before they are rescued, so the survival rate would be lower for the better grades.

There's a range.

In the first couple of years (2012, 2013) they minted 1.3-1.4M. It became less as the series continued, with occasional pops.

https://www.coincommunity.com/us_qu...eautiful.asp

I really like the S mint ATB Quarters. I did get a full set and filled a book, put it away. Maybe my 8 year old son who has an interest in numismatics may do something with them down the road.

Enjoy and good luck!

Datadragon - I agree wholeheartedly with your summary assessment. However, I do think S business strike ATB and AWQ quarters will eclipse slightly the value of circulated W's in the long run. Why? A) Mintages are about HALF the W quarters and circulated W's tend to be hoarded more than circulated S by inexperienced collectors as they may not have developed a good eye for discerning a circulated business strike versus a circulated proof; B) finding business strike S quarters is a bit harder to find than W's since all 2 million of the W's were put in circulation but of the average 1 million sold, I would say at most 1/2 were put in circulation as collectors have tended to hold onto rolls of these - you can make a better profit for less work (see how much more quickly a roll of golden dollar coin rolls sell than individual ones on ebay today). And unc gem S business strikes will have a slightly higher premium than W's due to their lower mintage but also sharing the same tendency to have a higher than normal population as collectors horde these. As one who has done coin roll searching for about 3 years, I have found only ONE S business strike ATB Quarter while finding 5 or 6 (without needing to go through boxes) of the W's. Granted they ceased being issued a year and a half ago but due to the amount of S quarters that are put into circulation they will be slightly harder to find than W's over the years. TO me both are highly collectible if found in circulation or high grades of unc condition. The only ones that to me will have the lowest premium of all categories are those in average uncirculated condition (MS 62 - 64).

Nice find And your in Maryland on the east coast. We dont find 'S' mint coins on the east coast when newly released very often of course due to how they distribute them, although over time they can mix into the area. You can of course start to look for the varieties/errors found in a book like strike it rich with pocket change as they may also be found and worthwhile to look for at the same time if your not already to improve potential returns on your time.




Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Keep in mind that because all those Ws are circulated, they would have had to be pulled right away (as some were) to ensure a chance to find a high grade while all S initially should be in a high grade. Over time the other Ws that continue to circulate all get worse (and some may not survive in that condition even after being pulled. Out of 2 million only a fraction will therefore be in top grades and less over time. The majority of S mints will be in top grades similar to proof sets but in lower quantity, only those in circulation and the ones the collectors dont hold onto or happen to get destroyed (fire, water etc) are going to reduce that population. Over time that means high grade Ws should eclipse S's but high grade S's are also strong. The typical circulated of either will always have some demand due to its limited total but its typically only when the high grade go up too much in value and people cant afford that they then take lower grades as a replacement.