1932 Washington Quarters 1932-1964 AU55

History

The 1932 bicentennial of George Washington's birth prompted bicentennial committees to seek a commemorative half dollar, but the legislation adopted instead placed Washington on the quarter as a permanent replacement for the Standing Liberty design. Because that type had not yet run the 25 years required for an administrative design change, an act of Congress dated March 4, 1931 was needed. A competition drawing roughly 100 entries followed, with rules requiring that Washington be rendered after Jean-Antoine Houdon's 1780s marble bust; the Commission of Fine Arts endorsed Laura Gardin Fraser's work, but Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon chose John Flanagan's design instead. No quarters at all were struck in 1931 as Depression-era demand collapsed, and when coinage resumed in 1932 it began at Philadelphia in July and at Denver and San Francisco in September before being suspended again through 1933.

Details

John Flanagan designed both the obverse and the reverse. The coin was struck in an alloy of 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper, weighing 6.25 grams, or 96.45 grains, and containing .18084 ounce of pure silver. Diameter is 24.3 mm, the edge is reeded, and the dies were set with the customary 180 degree coin turn. Reported mintages for the Denver issue range from 426,800 to 436,800, and the entire production was released into circulation.

Features

The obverse carries Washington's head facing left with LIBERTY above, IN GOD WE TRUST at the left, and the date below. On the reverse a modernistic perched eagle stands above a wreath, with E PLURIBUS UNUM above and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and QUARTER DOLLAR along the borders. Since the 1950s the prevalent deception for this date has been the addition of a false D to a genuine 1932 Philadelphia quarter, and more recently sophisticated counterfeits from Asia have appeared; altered pieces are often given artificial toning, paint or shoe polish to hide tooling around the mintmark, and examined examples have shown an incorrectly shaped D. Ejection doubling, a smeared or doubled look on the mintmark caused by the coin contacting the dies as they opened while feed fingers pushed it from the press, appears on genuine 1932-D quarters and is treated by authenticators as evidence of authenticity rather than a warning sign.

Notable facts

• The 1932-D and 1932-S are the only two Washington quarters with mintages under one million, and both fall below the 484,000 mintage of the 1909-S VDB Lincoln cent.
• Despite its later key-date standing, the 1932-D could still be ordered from the Treasury at face value plus postage as late as 1934.
• Roughly 70 percent of 1932-D quarters submitted to PCGS are circulated, while about 85 percent of certified 1932 Philadelphia quarters grade Mint State.
• Population figures dated October 2024 show only 136 certified examples at MS65 or finer, comprising 112 at PCGS, 24 at NGC, with CACG reporting 19 at MS65.
• PCGS has awarded MS66 to just two 1932-D quarters in forty years of grading, one fully brilliant and one heavily toned, and rates the date as having the lowest MS65 population of any Washington quarter.
• An MS66 example brought $143,750 in an April 2008 registry set sale, the highest price recorded for the issue.