1776-1976P Bicentennial Quarter Proofs?

[MTHead-migration]

1776-1976* - 809,784,016 minted for circulation

1776-1976D - 860,118,839 minted for circulation

 

* 4 Four Proof Quarters without mintmarks were struck. Any info on where they are?coinfacts.com/quarters

 

 

Were there any efforts made to produce a superior strike on the circulation coins?

 

Or were so many hoarded that the ones I find in circulation now recently released specimens with little wear?

 

[WoodenJefferson]

Four three-piece sets (Quarter Dollar, Half Dollar, and Dollar) were struck as Proofs but without mintmarks.

 

One set went to then-President Gerald Ford,

 

another to the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission administrator, John W. Warner,

 

another to Treasury Secretary William E. Simon,

 

and the other to Gerald Ford's appointment secretary, Anne L. Armstrong.

 

[MTHead-migration]

Dang, Woodie! You're good!

[EZ_E]

Dang, Woodie! You're good!

 

Too good! Maybe Woody is an alien?

 

 

[physics-fan3.14]

Four three-piece sets (Quarter Dollar, Half Dollar, and Dollar) were struck as Proofs but without mintmarks.

 

One set went to then-President Gerald Ford,

 

and the other to Gerald Ford's appointment secretary, Anne L. Armstrong.

 

hmmmm. Must have been a mighty good secretary.

[EZ_E]

 Originally Posted By: WoodenJefferson

Four three-piece sets (Quarter Dollar, Half Dollar, and Dollar) were struck as Proofs but without mintmarks.

 

One set went to then-President Gerald Ford,

 

and the other to Gerald Ford's appointment secretary, Anne L. Armstrong.

 

hmmmm. Must have been a mighty good secretary.

Now, are you talking Bill Clinton's kind of good secretary?

[Coindude]

Too good! Maybe Woody is an alien?

What do you mean by Maybe? I'm pretty sure we've all thought it.... I'm glad someone finally said it!!!

[RWB]

Now, are you talking Bill Clinton's kind of good secretary?

 

[Removed for being truthful.]

[Conder101]

And apparently one of them must have spent theirs because at least one of the Ikes was later recoved from a cash drawer.

[cladking]

No quarters or halfs are known to survive from these sets.

 

This was the winning design from the contest so it went on the most used denomination; the quarter. The mint did a much better job with these from a quality standpoint than any other circulating coin from that era. Dies were swapped out frequently and nicely made coins are fairly common. It is in the mint set coins that this is seen most dramatically. While those in the '75 mint set are excellent the ones in the '76 set are superb. Luster is normally rich and creamy and strikes are crisp. Even the Philly strikes are good. PL examples are nearly common. There is some very fine detail at the top of the drum which doesn't always strike up.

 

There's another low mintage bicentennial quarter that rarely gets a mention because it is very poor quality. Near the end of the production period for the 40% uncs the mint suddenly came to believe they were required to strike the authorized mintage rather than limited by it. With mere weeks remaining they ran off more than 11,000,000 40% unc bicentennial quarters (the entire set as well) on high speed presses. These coins are abysmal and distinct from the other coins which were carefully made to mint set standards. While the mintage was high, sales were exceedingly poor and these coins which were stored in 55 gal drums were finally melted in the early '80's. These sets are very infrequently seen now days and attrition for them has been very high because they are selectively destroyed due to their poor quality.