The Hunt for “W” Mint Mark Quarters

The quest for West Point quarters encourages the enjoyment of coin collecting by providing tangible rewards for seeking out the 1999-2000 “America The Beautiful National Park” W-mint varieties, which are frequently discovered in everyday change and quarter rolls.

In 1999, the grading organization PCGS sparked enthusiasm among collectors by announcing a $5,000 prize for the first Lowell West Point Mint Mark Quarter submitted for grading. They also promised unique labels for those who sent in this coin for grading within the first 45 days of its discovery.

In April 1999, PCGS announced, “Two passionate coin collectors—one from Kansas and the other from Virginia—have decided to share the $5,000 reward offered by the Professional Coin Grading Service (www.PCGS.com) for the nearly simultaneous submission of the first 2019 ‘America the Beautiful’ Lowell National Historical Park quarters featuring a West Point mint mark. Both coins were received at PCGS headquarters on the same day.”

The West Point Mint, which primarily produces silver dollars, minted a mere 2,000,000 of the 1999 and 2000 W-Mint Mark Quarters. This represents an exceptionally low mintage within the Washington Quarter series, with the only comparable issue being the 1937-S Quarter, which had a production of 1,652,000.

Additionally, the Mint inadvertently mixed the W-mint quarters with those from Philadelphia and Denver, enticing collectors to search for them in their pocket change.

You’ll also come across videos and posts claiming that W-mint quarters can fetch hundreds or even thousands of dollars. This is primarily true for exceptionally high-grade examples like MS67+ or MS68, which are considered condition rarities; only a few have ever achieved such high grades.

Nonetheless, the W-mint quarters still hold significant potential for collectors.

Here are the retail values for each year:

It’s important to remember that these retail values apply to PCGS-graded coins at MS65. The cost of grading is often comparable to the coin’s value. Additionally, auction hammer prices generally average around two-thirds of the retail values. If you discover a W-mint quarter in your pocket change, it is technically classified as circulated. However, you may come across near-gem examples that have been inadvertently released from rolls or deposited in banks from stores and coin machines.

On platforms like eBay, you might encounter highly inflated “buy now” listings, such as this one featuring a few bag marks from circulation:

Always remember to check the “sold” listings on eBay. Doing so will reveal that ungraded 10-coin sets of W-mint mark quarters generally sell for between $150 and $200.

If you’re going to invest time in roll and coin hunting, the search for W-mint quarters is certainly worth the effort and adds to the enjoyment of the hobby.

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