When the State Quarters program began in 1999, it was a real shot-in-the-arm for coin collecting. People of all ages began to look for and save these quarters. Many a quarter book or board was filled from pocket change.
Because both the Denver and the Philadelphia mints each produced from a quarter billion to nearly a half a billion of each, most of these collections will never be worth more than face value.
There is one exception to this rule. In 2004, the same year the Texas quarter was released, the Wisconsin quarter was also released. The 2004 D Wisconsin quarter has two errors that are worth searching for.
The Wisconsin quarter has a wheel of cheese (surprise!), a milk cow, and an ear of corn that has been partially shucked. The errors are both connected to the ear of corn. To the left side of the corn, there are two possible extra leaves to the corn. One of the error leaves is known in the coins books as the “high leaf” variety. This leaf is a little longer and reaches higher than the “low leaf” variety. In the price guides, in a “like new,” uncirculated condition, the high leaf variety lists for $700-900, while the low leaf variety is worth about two thirds of that. Either of these coins, with some wear visible, would bring $100 to $150.
Over the 200 years of our country’s minting of coins, there are occasional tales of “the midnight shift” at the various mints. After closing hours, on the sly, a mint employee will sometimes make ultra-rare error coins and sneak them out. The Wisconsin quarters may fit into this category. There has just never been a satisfactory explanation as to how these extra leaves got there. If these were not the product of the midnight shift at the mint, perhaps some of George’s curls on the other side of the coin got transposed to the corn!
If you have been collecting rolls of these state quarters, you might break them open and search for these. And, to make your mouth water, these coins were first found in two places: around Tempe, Arizona, and San Antonio! Odds are that there are a few of these collecting dust in Brown County right now!
The Brown County Coin Club meets on the second Tuesday of each month at the Austin Avenue Church of Christ. Meetings provide a great opportunity to learn all about coins. There’s probably at least one club member who shares an interest with you and would guide you in the basics. Get involved in coin collecting!
We hope to see you on August 9, at 7:00, for our next meeting. Call Bill Cooper at 325-642-2128 or me at 325-217-4129 for more information.
Pictured above are two examples of the rare Wisconsin quarters: Left image is an example of the Low Leaf variety – Right image is an example of the High Leaf variety.
Below is the common version of the quarter:
