1943 Washington Quarter

Headlong into World War II, The United States economy was in full swing as the nation produced navy ships, planes, and other implements for the battle overseas. The need for new coins was as great as ever, and to answer that call, the United States Mint made more than more than 135 million Washington quarters in 1943.

Though 1943 was the first year since 1935 that no proof coins were made at the United States Mint, that doesn’t mean there are no particularly challenging coins for the collector to look for today. Both the Philadelphia and San Francisco mint inadvertently produced doubled-die obverse varieties, which are rare today.

Here’s a breakdown of mintages for the 1943 Washington quarter:

• 1943, 99,700,000 minted; $7

• 1943 doubled-die obverse, mintage uncertain; $350

• 1943-D, 16,095,600; $11

• 1943-S, 21,700,000; $12

• 1943-S doubled-die obverse, mintage uncertain; $250

*Values are for coins in Extremely Fine grade.

Generally speaking, try to buy the best 1943 Washington quarters you can afford. As all regular-strike quarters from that year are common, the better-grade pieces are relatively low in cost and therefore make great purchases for those who want great-looking quarters from that period without having to spend very much to buy them.