Description

A quarter, short for quarter dollar, is a U.S. coin worth 25 cents, one-fourth of a dollar. It has been produced since 1796. The choice of 1⁄4 as a denomination — as opposed to the 1⁄5 more common elsewhere — originated with the practice of dividing Spanish milled dollars into eight wedge-shaped segments. At one time "two bits" (that is, two "pieces of eight") was a common nickname for a quarter.

The Washington Quarter Dollar of 1932 was originally intended to be a commemorative coin to celebrate the 200th anniversary of George Washington's birth. The coin proved so popular that the design was continued as a regular-issue for circulation beginning in 1934 in silver.

On June 3, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson announced plans to eliminate silver from the dime and quarter in favor of a clad composition, with layers of copper-nickel on each side of a layer of pure copper. The U.S. Mint transitioned from striking 1964-dated silver quarters to striking 1965-dated clad quarters. Beginning on August 1, 1966, the Mint began to strike 1966-dated pieces, and thereafter it resumed the normal practice of striking the current year's date on each piece.

The new clad quarters were struck without mint mark in 1965–1967, regardless of the mint of origin. Beginning in 1968, mint marks were restored. The San Francisco Mint had reopened, but from 1968, it struck quarters only for collectors, for the most part proof coins. Mint marks on post-1965 pieces are found on the lower right of the obverse, to the right of Washington's neck.