History of U.S. Quarters
Since 1796, the United States quarter has been in circulation due to the Coinage Act of 1792. From 1796 to 1930, several different quarter designs were issued which featured some variation of Lady Liberty on the obverse and a depiction of an American eagle on the reverse. Some of the most notable of these designs were the Draped Bust Quarter, Seated Liberty Quarter, Liberty Head Quarter, and Standing Liberty Quarter. By 1932, this changed as an image of George Washington replaced Lady Liberty in honor of the first president’s 200th birthday. From 1932 to 1998, the United States quarter’s reverse featured the famous eagle with wings spread standing on a bundle of arrows and olive branches. Notably, in 1976, to celebrate the Bicentennial, a reverse featuring a military drummer was issued.
Up until 1965, all U.S. quarters contained some amount of silver in them, but after the Mint removed silver from circulating coinage, the new quarter composition became a copper-nickel clad which continues to this day for circulating issues. Collectible quarters such as proof issues that appear in recent Silver Proof Sets and Limited Edition Proof Sets, and 5 ounce bullion America the Beautiful quarters, are struck from .999 fine silver.
In 1975 and 1976, the U.S. Mint celebrated the bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence with a temporary reverse design of a colonial drummer and a victory torch circled by 13 stars with the inscription “1776-1976”.
In 1999, the design of the U.S. quarter changed yet again with the 50 State Quarters Program, which can be consideredthe first circulating coin program from the United States Mint. Since that time, other circulating quarter coin programs have been created.
Historic Quarters
Quarters minted before 1965 have extreme significance, as they all contain some amount of silver, but after the Coinage Act of 1965, circulating U.S. quarters no longer had silver. The United States Mint has gone to great lengths to keep the relevance of the U.S. quarter through a variety of other quarter programs that will no doubt go down in United States History:
- 1975-1976 - Bicentennial Quarter
- 1999-2008 - 50 States Quarter Program
- 2009 - District of Columbia and U.S. Territories Quarter Program
- 2010-2021 - America the Beautiful Quarters Program
- 2021 - General George Washington Crossing the Delaware Quarter
- 2022-2025 - American Women Quarters Program
Modern Quarters
Since the first circulating coin program with the 50 States Quarters, the United States Mint has done a phenomenal job of keeping the U.S. quarter popular and relevant.. The U.S. Mint continues to create relevant coinage that is not only sought after but that honors American history and the citizens that have made America the country it is today.
