# 1975 Quarters **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 8, 2000, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1975-quarters/21775 "2000-06-08T18:11:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1975-quarters/21775/1 "2000-06-08T18:11:10Z")
The newest thread about the dollar coin and the worth of various coins as collector’s items reminded me of something a friend once told me. According to him, the 1975 quarter is VERY rare, and should you ever come across one you should cherish it. Per said friend, the reason for the value is that the only quarters minted in 1975 were for collector sets, none for general circulation. The theory being that they knew they were going to mint a ton of them for the bicentennial so they figured they could skip a year. Any numismatists out there that know the straight dope on this? ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1975-quarters/21775/2 "2000-06-08T18:43:33Z")
No, there’s no truth to that. It sounds like your friend may have been thinking of the 1970 half dollar, though. No Philadelphia ones were minted, the Denver ones were for mint sets, the San Francisco ones were for proof sets, none were for circulation. I’m not sure how much they’re worth offhand, not a whole lot, but definitely more than face value. As a guess, maybe $2-3 for San Francisco, $10-15 for Denver. ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1975-quarters/21775/3 "2000-06-08T19:05:31Z")
Any idea where I can find stats on the number of quarters minted by year? I would like to be able to show my friend as he’ll never believe me otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1975-quarters/21775/4 "2000-06-08T19:13:43Z")
Hmm, I guess I’ll just keep the post count going on my own thread. 🙂 A search on AskJeeves brought me to this site that lists the number of Washington Quarters minted per year. 1975 is not listed at all. I guess they’re VERY rare! [http://www.stanford.edu/~clint/q/25wash.htm](http://www.stanford.edu/~clint/q/25wash.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Odieman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a87d85/32.png) [@Odieman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odieman)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1975-quarters/21775/5 "2000-06-08T19:27:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Legislation was enacted in 1973 authorizing design changes in the reverse designs of the one-dollar coins, the half-dollar coin and the quarter-dollar coin in observance of the Nation’s Bicentennial, and the adoption of a symbolic date (1776-1976) in place of the usual single year designation. The only single-dated coins issued during 1975 and 1976 were the ten-cent coin, the five-cent coin and the one-cent coin. Beginning on January 1, 1977, the Bicentennial designs were retired and both the designs and dating procedures in use prior to the national celebration are now in force. This information comes from the FAQ published by the Department of the Treasury, so it looks like their were no quarters issued with a 1975 date. Nonexistant definitely qualifies as very rare. 😉 Keith ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1975-quarters/21775/6 "2000-06-08T19:28:07Z")
I don’t know where to look on the web (odd they were left out of that list you found), but you can look up the mintage in any coin price guide. Probably the easiest ones to find at a bookstore would be the _Red Book_, or the monthly magazine _Coin Prices_ or _Coin Price Value Guide_, I can’t remember what it’s called, though I imagine there’s more than one. ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1975-quarters/21775/7 "2000-06-08T19:31:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > Nonexistant definitely qualifies as very rare. > \*\* The same site I found also has list of the number of proof sets by year, and there are some made for 1975. Damn, I can’t believe my friend may be right about something! I’m sure not going to tell him 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1975-quarters/21775/8 "2000-06-08T19:32:11Z")
> [@](#): > > …so it looks like their were no quarters issued with a 1975 date. I did a little more looking around and that’s exactly right, I stand corrected. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1975-quarters/21775/9 "2000-06-08T19:39:44Z")
I think your friend was right, though. 1975 quarters are worth $493.75 . And it doesn’t even matter what year they were minted! (ducks, runs as he’s pelted with quarters) panama jack * * * “Cast but a glance at riches, for they are soon gone.” ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1975-quarters/21775/10 "2000-06-08T20:05:09Z")
[Throws a bunch of SBA’s at panamajack] I have now come to find that even the proof sets don’t have 1975 quarters. The 1975 proof sets supposedly have 1976 quarters. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2000, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1975-quarters/21775/11 "2000-06-08T23:58:30Z")
I remember hearing that the Bicentennial quarters, which were dated 1776-1976, were minted for an 18 month period. So I’m guessing that in 1975 they had started minting the Bicentenial quarters, although they weren’t released until 1976. ---
**Author:** ![TomHow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e7dd6/32.png) [@TomHow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TomHow)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1975-quarters/21775/12 "2011-04-23T02:29:14Z")
Wow, it looks like I am replying to eleven year old posts; we have in our possession a very genuine looking Washington quarter dated 1975, so the collector set theory sounds plausible to me. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1975-quarters/21775/13 "2011-04-23T02:33:04Z")
Holy zombi-rama! This has gotta be a record! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1975-quarters/21775/14 "2011-04-23T02:39:15Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Holy zombi-rama! > > This has gotta be a record! Nope, there have been a few from '99. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1975-quarters/21775/15 "2011-04-23T03:07:31Z")
> [@TomHow](#): > > Wow, it looks like I am replying to eleven year old posts; we have in our possession a very genuine looking Washington quarter dated 1975, so the collector set theory sounds plausible to me. I’ll give you a quarter for it. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1975-quarters/21775/16 "2011-04-23T12:53:52Z")
> [@TomHow](#): > > Wow, it looks like I am replying to eleven year old posts; we have in our possession a very genuine looking Washington quarter dated 1975, so the collector set theory sounds plausible to me. Could you post a picture of it? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1975-quarters/21775/17 "2011-04-23T13:02:46Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Holy zombi-rama! > > This has gotta be a record! That makes more sense now, I was wondering why anyone, other then my ex-MIL, was asking Jeeves anything. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1975-quarters/21775/18 "2011-04-23T18:46:58Z")
1975 quarters were not dated 1975, but rather 1776-1976. If you have a 1975 dated US quarter it is a counterfeit. My coin dealer collects counterfeits ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1975-quarters/21775/19 "2011-04-23T21:27:25Z")
For 11 long years my secret shame was that my post had killed this thread. Thank you for removing the onus. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1975-quarters/21775/20 "2011-04-23T22:23:27Z")
I can atest to the fact that (a) the 1975 was very, very hard to find and (b) fewer than average were minted. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1975-quarters/21775.md?page=2)