Take Another Look at the 1932 Philly Quarter
Created in 1932, the Washington quarter had a very confusing birth.
Perhaps we will all tire of the quarter in the next ten years. For now, though, the 50 states program and subsequent quarter programs have made the Washington quarter hot, hot, hot.
Created in 1932, the Washington quarter had a very confusing birth. Officials seemingly knew what they were doing, but there was confusion as to whether the Washington quarter was intended as a commemorative or a regular quarter of the United States.
To understand, you must remember that back in the early 1930s the appearance of the circulating coins of the United States was very different. Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington, Roosevelt and Kennedy did not appear in your pocket change every day. Well, Lincoln did, but none of the others.
The use of a real person on the cent back in 1909 had been an extraordinary step in its own right. Presidents, even dead ones, did not appear on coins. The United States had resisted the notion of using historic Americans on coins. The reason, if there really was one, seemed to stretch back to George Washington, who had declined the honor of having his likeness on a coin because it smacked of monarchy. Americans wanted no part of a king.
Teddy Roosevelt, however, was not a conventional sort of character, and he decided that he wanted Lincoln on a coin. What Teddy Roosevelt wanted, he frequently got. With no other portrait used on circulating coins for more than 20 years, it would have been logical to conclude that the Lincoln cent was not the start of a trend, but rather the exception to the rule of no historic or living Americans except on commemoratives.
That fact in large part explains why there might have been confusion as to whether those first Washington quarters released in 1932 (the 200th anniversary of his birth) were commemoratives or regular circulating coins.
The Washington quarter arrived with a bang in the form of the 1932-D and 1932-S, both of which had mintages under 500,000 pieces. There was also a 1932 Washington quarter produced at Philadelphia, but no one gave it much thought. It had a mintage of 5,404,000. That figure was not especially high, but there were other Washington quarters over the years with lower mintages and, compared to the 1932-D and 1932-S, the 1932 Washington quarter was perilously close to common. That viewpoint has remained pretty much intact over the years. Yes, the Philadelphia 1932 quarter was the first Washington quarter, but it is the 1932-D and 1932-S that are really special.
It might, however, be time to take a second look. If those who promote coins decide to promote collections, such as the first and last years of the Washington quarter, those collections are going to need a 1932, and you can bet it won’t be a 1932-D or 1932-S. That could put a lot of added demand on the 1932. Its current price is $50 in MS-65 and $14 in XF-40.
The Philadelphia 1932 quarter is not just the first Washington, but it is also a better date in its own right. It is certainly not the key to the set, but it is the lowest mintage Washington quarter business strike from Philadelphia. Moreover, it ranks reasonably near the top in any list of low mintage Washington quarters, and none of the others except the 1932-D and 1932- S can claim that distinction of being the first. The Philadelphia 1932 Washington quarter is a special coin that may soon get even more special. Get one before it gets too pricey.
