1957 Washington Quarter

Around 125 million Washington quarters were minted in 1957, which is a large number indeed – and plenty to render quarters from that year exceedingly common. Coin collectors who seek 1957 Washington quarters will generally spend little time focusing on the purchase of pieces from that year, instead narrowing their most ardent efforts toward tracking down the much scarcer Washington quarters from the 1930s and 1940s, which are often tough to find even in low circulated grades.

Here is a glance at the mintages and values of 1957 Washington quarters:

• 1957, 46,532,000 minted; $7

• 1957 proof, 1,247,952; $11

• 1957-D, 77,924,160; $7

*Values are for coins in a grade of Extremely Fine-40, unless otherwise noted.

Take notice of the 1957 proof – that was the first year the United States proof sets were produced in quantities greater than 1 million. That is not a milestone that can really be overstated, as it speaks to the growing number of coin collectors in the U.S. at the time and also signifies the beginning of the era during which collector coins would be produced in overwhelming numbers, which is why most proof sets are worth less than their original prices from the mint, though that isn’t the case with any silver U.S. proof sets which were assembled before 1965.