Washington Quarters - What To Look For In "Choice" Coins?

With the clad issues especially the last thing to strike up are the peripheral letters. On a 100% strike the tops of these letters will be slightly rounded and the sides straight and slanted. 100% strikes tend to be rare aso you normally have to select the best of what is available which I call 99% strikes.

You also want to look at die quality. Brand new dies leave sharp strikes and tiny imperfections reminiscent of the bits of rubber hanging from a new tire. These wear off very quickly though. Look for nice even surfaces without evidence of metal flow near major design features like the front of the bust. Look for die preessure as well. One of the last features to fill in the interior is the left most claw on the eagle. See if it has all the detail.

Finally is marking. There are often tiny scratches and distracting planchet marking that normally is more prominent around the edge. But of course gouges and scratches to the finoished coin count heavily against grade and overall quality.

Also pay some attention to the rim. It should be as even as possible on both sides. On modern high speed presses the dies are frequently misaligned a little so rim depth and thickness will vary on one or both sides.

How to weight these various factors is determined by date. Some dates come wioth obnly one specific problem like the '81-P has terrible surfaces and the '69 has retained planchet marking. Some of the '90's dates are almost impossible to find well centered. Most collectors seek not only the finest quality but lean toward specimens that have uncharacteristic qualuity for the date. If you're trying to choose between two '81-P's of nearly equal quality than choose the one with nice surfaces.