Numisphere Podcast - Coins, Currency, Bullion
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Numisphere Podcast - Coins, Currency, Bullion
The Truth About the 1976 Bicentennial Quarter
Can a common, everyday coin actually be worth thousands of dollars? Join us in this episode of the Numisphere as we uncover the truth behind the 1976 Bicentennial Quarter. Tyler and TJ unravel the historical context of this iconic coin, produced over two years, and debunk the myths and misconceptions that have led many to believe their quarters are hidden treasures. We'll guide you through the realities of its value, clarifying that most of these coins are worth only their face value, while also shining a light on the rare high-grade examples that can command impressive prices, particularly those with notable pedigrees.
Switching gears, we dive into the fascinating world of Bicentennial coin errors and the sentimental value they hold for collectors. We highlight the importance of determining whether your error coins are worth getting certified or if they should remain cherished items in your collection. We encourage listeners to share photos and inquiries about potential errors but remind everyone to keep it manageable! Engage with us through comments, emails, and our website as we aim to provide clarity and educational content that enhances the numismatic community's understanding of these unique coins.
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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on The Numisphere Podcast are for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. The content shared by the hosts, guests, or any participants of the podcast is purely their own opinion and not intended to be a substitute for professional financial advice. Always consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any financial decisions. The Numisphere Podcast, including its hosts and guests, does not assume any responsibility for any actions taken upon the advice given in the podcast episodes.
Welcome on in to another episode of the Numisphere, where we talk about all things numismatic. And before we even discuss today's topic, I gotta ask Tyler what's with the patriotic shirt?
Speaker 2:Well, we're talking about the Bicentennial Quarter today. What better way than to be patriotic?
Speaker 1:Bicentennial Quarter. It's not because of 4th July Coming up, the summer months I mean that's next week and by the time these guys see this, it'll be a couple days ago, but. Well, I appreciate you keeping in With the theme of the topic of the day.
Speaker 2:You don't like it do you?
Speaker 1:Well Listen, I'm just kind of jealous that we weren't able to coordinate. And I'm here with my little Paisley shirt Looking into the camera wondering am I underdressed?
Speaker 2:Yes, yes you are Because that's what it feels like. All right, you're very much lacking on the patriotic side today.
Speaker 1:We're going to improve this communication for future episodes, people. Well, nonetheless, I think that, keeping with the theme of patriotism, what more patriotic than a 1976 bicentennial quarter?
Speaker 2:I can think of a few things.
Speaker 1:This has got to be one of the most common coins that is brought into the shop. We see it on a regular basis with pretty much all collections. I mean boomers kept them aside, right, because this was celebrating the bicentennial. Now, what people don't understand about this coin? Just generically, we're not talking about any special type right of the 1976. But these were made for two years.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So in an effort to prevent hoarding, they decided that they would produce it both in 75 and 76.
Speaker 1:So we had two consistent years where the mint was running off the same quarter.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so this is like the quarter that has double the population it's the super rarest quarter in the United States.
Speaker 1:But it is super rare, right, at least everybody thinks so Well.
Speaker 2:so, oddly enough, just yesterday, Google Alerts pops up on my phone and it says Bicentennial quarter worth $2 million, $2 million.
Speaker 1:And I looked at it and I said Google, I'm just disappointed.
Speaker 2:These AI-generated articles and information kicking around, it's all crap. Yeah, show me a $2 million 1976 Bicent all crap. Yeah, show me a $2 million 1976 bicentennial quarter.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and, if you can't notice, we have a slight sense of sarcasm when we're talking about how precious this is, because it's commonly misunderstood, to be very rare, by customers who come in inquiring about the value of these things. It's somewhat of a conversation amongst dealers about the frustration that comes out. It's a flat out running joke, with every new wave of the variety being advertised on other platforms out there, you know, tiktok or Instagram, or wherever they might be.
Speaker 1:I think there's one particular content creator on TikTok, we don't need to point fingers, you know he tends to exacerbate these falsehoods and create a sense of false hope. Maybe, but he definitely keeps people interested in the hobby. I have to say, oh, his stuff's great.
Speaker 2:I usually have no issues Right Right, but creating this hype behind a coin that everybody in the industry knows that 99 of them are worth a quarter. Right, right, it's harmful, right and honestly, it takes a lot of our time and it kind of sucks and maybe, maybe people need to understand how that can be harmful.
Speaker 1:Right number one people are focusing on getting the wrong thing, so they're not exactly helping themselves out by looking for the things that actually are rare. But another sense of that is the broken heart syndrome of the customer. Now, there's several different levels of this, but when a customer comes in with high hopes on the value of their 1976 bicentennial quarter, it's kind of heartbreaking when you deliver to them that they have just a common 25 cent face value coin.
Speaker 2:So those customers tend to go one of two ways right, it's okay, you know that's really disappointing. And the other is no, you're wrong, right.
Speaker 1:And okay, so we've had that as well and, as you can imagine, that can escalate in testosterone levels in the shop, no, and become situations where people are actually upset that we're not recognizing the value of their 1976 bicentennial quarter. But we want to help people, the community, right? We want to clear some things up and, tyler, let's clear it up what is the value in a 1976 bicentennial quarter?
Speaker 2:Well, first off, the majority of them that are out there are the Philadelphia minted ones. I hate to tell you, if it's a circulated clad, just spend it. It's a quarter Okay, just spend it. It's a quarter okay. But there are a handful of examples that are definitely worth a pretty good value, right? I mean, there's some known examples that have caught almost nearly 20 000. Okay, it's not two million, right? Okay, and this was a one-off. So, because this particular one had a pedigree that associated to the hansen Collection, it sold for $19,200.
Speaker 1:Tyler, that was a lot of words for the people out there in our audience all at once. You just dropped some vocabulary. Here we talked about pedigree.
Speaker 2:Yes, so when a coin is associated with a particular collector or collection, it gains a pedigree right, so it's the association to that collection.
Speaker 1:Okay, so this one was for the Hanson collection. It was from the Hanson collection, to give it a specific pedigree, yep, and it was a. Was it a top pop in its grade.
Speaker 2:So there was three in that grade which I think I have here. It was an MS-69.
Speaker 1:An MS-69. So that is the top grade. There's no others that are higher than an MS-69.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's three that were graded there, okay, and another one of them sold for a few thousand dollars less, actually like 30% less. Give or take, okay, but that did not have a pedigree.
Speaker 1:So the number one record out there for the sale of one of these was in.
Speaker 2:It was a 76S 40% silver Yep With the Hanson collection pedigree. Okay In 69.
Speaker 1:Yep, okay, so this is a one-off, very rare occurrence. Matter of fact, because the collection is so limited, they're probably only going to see X amount ever, right?
Speaker 2:Now I can guarantee that people are going to view this and be like oh, you guys are wrong, you're leaving stuff out. Yes, we understand there are particular errors that are one of one, one of three, that have achieved some higher prices, but we're really not accounting for those super rare mistakes like, uh, one of them was on a dime planchette. Yeah, one ended up on an eisenhower.
Speaker 1:so the wrong planchets are definitely unique one-off coins, right, but the probability of finding one like it is very rare, because that actually happens when the coin is lodged into another die correct.
Speaker 2:I mean there's a few ways. But yeah, that's typically the way Some other coin migrates into the die and then they come down and you see parts of both. So it's a very unique occurrence inside the minting process right, and that's the super, ultra rare stuff that particular content creators are allowing people to think that, hey, all of your quarters are going to be worth. Well, not all, but you have the opportunity to achieve that type of value and you really don't so, but there there is.
Speaker 1:I mean there's a variety, right, so we talked about heirs, but there's registered varieties within the 1976 the 76d, yeah, 76d, okay.
Speaker 2:So in the 1976, denver there, right depending on what grading company you're looking at. Okay, okay, so if you're looking at PCGS, there's the DDO FS-101, and then there's the DDO FS-102, which is some doubling on the obverse side, if I'm not mistaken in Liberty. Okay Does?
Speaker 1:that sound right? Yeah, I think it was the FS-301. I think it was 101.s 301, I think it was 101 was it 101?
Speaker 2:okay, all right, whichever it might have been?
Speaker 1:we'll find out later. I do know this. The trend actually was just in the liberty. So they were both in denver and they were within the liberty and you could see in the fs 101 it was pretty blatant, the doubling that was happening inside of the liberty. Um. But on the second variation, that doubling was almost like a, a belling out, yeah, or a flaring out on the bottom of the font for for the liberty itself and if I'm not mistaken there was one in the population, one the highest pop.
Speaker 2:So it sold uh may of last year in NGC MS66 for $8,400. And there was only one of them and that, if I'm not mistaken, was the 101. Okay.
Speaker 1:Wow. So I mean this is what they should be looking out for. If anything, look at the liberty. First off, check to see if you have a D. Look at the liberty. If you can identify doubling or you're suspicious of doubling, you may have something. The chances of this is very unlikely.
Speaker 2:Like all things, it's a hunt right. That's why it's valuable, because it is so rare Granted registered errors like the ones that we're discussing here, or standard grades or straight grades. They do have the opportunity to be more than a quarter Right, but the odds of having something that's worth $2 million, like Google News says really is not the case, Gotcha, Gotcha.
Speaker 1:So I mean realistically, check for the variety. If you don't have that variety and you don't have a specimen that'll $69 or better, you're not going to have something on your hands that's worth a large amount of money. It's probably easier to spend it than it is to sell it off to a coin dealer.
Speaker 2:And if it's a Philadelphia mint, just spend it, than it is to sell it off to a coin dealer. And if it's a Philadelphia mint, just spend it. Don't even waste time.
Speaker 1:Correct. Yes, this is very important. It's also very important to take the information that we're learning through these different platforms and that we're being exposed to and trying to find confirmation through things like reliable resources. There's so many resources out there that are put forward by things like reliable resources. There's so many resources out there that are put forward by things like these grading companies, PCGS.
Speaker 2:So not just the companies too, actually. I mean Wexler even mentions I wanted to mention the- extra finger. Yeah, absolutely so.
Speaker 1:Wexler is a unique catalog of varieties that have been proven and recorded um that sit outside of the box of the registered varieties that are identified by the standard grading companies, and it's a great resource, extremely detailed. I'd encourage any coin collector out there who's interested in errors to browse through Now. It is a low-budget scheme, but the amount of information and the information that is, or the content that is in there is really priceless.
Speaker 2:So great resources like that. He does a great job with nice photos, explains what they are Fantastic, I would say hands down, that's probably a better error resource and variety resource than any of the grading companies.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I know that I fall on it quite a bit when we're doing research here in the shop.
Speaker 2:Especially if you're into Lincoln sense or even the wheat sense or Indian heads. Phenomenal resource.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. And then, of course, if you you have a thicker wallet, or you're fortunate enough to have gobbled up the cherry pickers guide from the red book, or it's Whitman who puts that out. Yeah, Correct, they do have a new series that's coming out. It's missing a volume to my understanding?
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's we'll just say some conflict going on about how it was all released. Okay, so they're slowly working through it all and getting through volumes back out.
Speaker 1:And the the newer edition of this book is coming out, but if you're lucky enough to get your hands on the older version, it'll set you back a few hundred dollars. It is in a three-volume series. This is definitely a great resource. If you have anybody who has this resource and you're able to encounter it, snap pictures, keep it for your own records. It'll help you for identification of registered errors in the future. Yeah, I just I want to put that out there for our audience, you know.
Speaker 1:It helps. I mean, being educated about your hobby is paramount. You don't want to sound like a fool and you also don't want to control or have you be controlled by your emotions. Right, our hopes will always put that this is a very valuable coin in our mind and we take that with us. But it's important for us to go through those checks and balances, bring them back to the resources and if you're still puzzled or you truly feel as though you may have a double die, bring it on down to your local coin shop.
Speaker 2:Let them review it, let them confirm it for you, or send in yeah, I mean we once you've done your basic research send it in.
Speaker 1:We had a gentleman today and came through the shop and he brought in a missing clad reverse 1978 Roosevelt dime and he was describing it to me. He was giving me pictures. I let him know that there was only a few ways that we could authenticate this making sure that we measure what it was for the composition of the metal on both the obverse and the reverse with our XRF. And then secondly, taking the weight and comparing that against the registered weight, I think it clocked in at something like 1.92 grams. It was supposed to be 2.27. Just that weight differential alone allowed us to confirm that that coin was actually missing, the clad on the reverse of it and it was absolutely struck properly on the reverse.
Speaker 1:I mean the unique things like that. You have questions about them coming into the shop. We can help you confirm those things and we can also help you figure out whether it's worth getting certified or not, or maybe it just needs to sit in your collection as is, because when you find those errors they actually come through your hands. You get kind of attached to them sentimentally.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely, absolutely, you do. I will say, though do not take this as an invitation to blast us with an absurd amount of coins that hey, what's this, what's that? Sorry, we're not so much into that. Okay, but I know someone out there is going to see this and tell us there's so many more errors on the bicentennial. I want to see those.
Speaker 1:Yeah, put those in.
Speaker 2:the comments, send us some photos, hop on the website, email us. I want to check those out Absolutely Because, although it's been around for a while, there always could be that next opportunity or a new finding, and I'd love to see that. And if we can help you to determine what you have, we'd be grateful to do that.
Speaker 1:And we could even add in there too, if they may have another type of coin that they'd like us to put a little bit more of a deep dive into. Bring clarity to that. Maybe there's some cloudiness around whether it's valuable or not.
Speaker 2:See, you're saying that because you're not the guy who gets the Google messages with a thousand pictures every day saying what's this worth, and you can't even tell what the coin in the photo is.
Speaker 1:You're my human filter. You're welcome. Thank you Well. With that, guys, I hope you appreciated this week's episode. We do encourage you to engage in the comments below. Let us know what you're thinking. We're always trying to come up with ideas that are going to be appealing and educational for you, bring you value in the community and with that,
