In 1998, the design for the obverse showing Washington’s head in the center, “In God We Trust” on the left side of Washington’s head, Liberty on the top, the date on the bottom and so on. The reverse simply was an American eagle with “United States of America” on the top, “Quarter Dollar” on the bottom, and other minor details that I not going to worry about. When the design changed in 1999 where it was moderately similar except that the positions of the phrase “United States of America” and “Quarter Dollar” went from the reverse to the obverse and that In Got We Trust was moved from the left side of Washington’s head to the right. The reverse was an outlined engraving of a scene or an event with the date on the bottom. The old 2021 design was the same design as the one I just explained but the new one is the design before 1999 but the reverse was an event or a scene from American History instead of an American Eagle. I want to know why and how this design change occurred from an old design introduced in 1932 to one that was a modified design introduced in 1999 and then changed back to a version of the 1932 design. Pictures: OBVERSE REVERSE: *note: all coins are pictured in increasing order Bonus: I would like to know what is this in the “Crossing of the Delware” 2021-D quarter My phone is bad at taking small details
Why did the US changed from a modified version of the 1932 Quarter Design to a similar version of the 1932 design. This confused me during a recent quarter hunt because I just look at designs to see what period it was minted in.
Do you mean when they moved all the reverse stuff to the obverse to make room for the state and ATB reverses?
That would be for the design introduced in 1999. If I was unclear, (and I’m sorry if I was a unclear) I asked, Why did they use a obverse design from 1932-1998 to make the 2021 quarter? I usually use that design to mark if a quarter is made between 1932 and 1998
When the Statehood Quarters were introduced (1999-2009), followed by the ATB Quarters (2010-2021), the denomination and country name were moved to the obverse, in order to make room on the reverse for the 102 separate designs comprising those two series (Statehood & ATB). Because of that, Washington's image had to shrink a bit to make room - thus the new design. This year (2021), the final ATB quarter was issued, followed by a new one-year design (Washington Crossing the Delaware (WCD) ). For the WCD, there's no extra room needed on the reverse, so they returned to the 1932 design.
If you use the reverse design as your marker, it is obvious which period the quarter was minted. As to why the obverse reverted to the classic 1932-1998 design, I couldn't tell you. Lucky for you, with the introduction of the American Women Quarters program slated for 2022, obverses and reverses will change again! This time, the obverse will completely change to a rendering of Washington by Laura Gardin Fraser.
Yeah what Jeff C said, the coin was a filler for the transition to the next reverse series. I like the original obverse the best, it reminds me of another Bicentennial quarter.
The answer as to why they went back to the old obv design is in the legislation that authorized the ATB coin program. ‘‘(A) the obverse of the quarter dollar shall revert to the same design containing an image of President Washington in effect for the quarter dollar before the institution of the 50-State quarter dollar program; and ‘‘(B) notwithstanding the fourth sentence of subsection (d)(1), the reverse of the quarter dollar shall contain an image of General Washington crossing the Delaware River prior to the Battle of Trenton. ‘‘ That's why we got the 1932 obv design and why we got the Washington Crossing the Delaware. They were mandated in the legislation.
So the 1932-1998 design is a placeholder for the 1999-20## design. So in 30 years from now, this coin would have increased significant value because this design is a placeholder and that it has the initials of the designer(s)?
It was legislated to be done this way and the American women quarters are supposed to have a different obverse placements also. The 2021 WCD is part of the original Washington quarter series like the bicentennial quarter is. The state quarters are it's own series, and future series will have a common obverse to that series but different from previous series. Oh and the state quarters and national parks are a continuation of the states series.
The how and why is because the Mint decided they could make money by having a regular reverse design change, so put a bill before legislation to make it happen, and there they are. I do believe that the original design will increase in value (eventually), so save them when I get them.
I don't know who it was that managed to push the state quarter program through but it probably wasn't the mint that came up with it. The Mint and the Treasury Dept had fought AGAINST coin redesign for decades. It was a major battle to get the Bicentennial design program through. Their constant reasons for not wanting change was that "it would increase the likelihood of counterfeiting" and "Having more than one design in circulation would confuse the public and they would lose trust in the coinage because they wouldn't know if the coins were real or not." They were completely against the state quarter program until all the hoarding resulted in an explosion in the seigniorage profits. Once that happens they did a complete 180 degree turnaround and were all for new designs
