Rare 1959 Quarter Errors (List & Pictures)
For 1959 quarter errors, the coin’s outline can be as informative as its lettering. A double-struck example whose second strike landed 60% off-center sold for $4,560 in July 2021, the highest supplied completed result.
Estimated values across the types below range from $20–$6,000. Compare the size and strike first, then inspect the surface, mintmark, and reverse design to distinguish large production mistakes from small die varieties.
| Clue | Possible type | Estimated value |
|---|---|---|
| Small blank or different metal | Wrong planchet | $500–$2,500 |
| Gap in the outline | Clipped blank | $25–$400 |
| Single displaced design | Off-center strike | $100–$750 |
| Two separated impressions | Double strike | $2,000–$6,000 |
| Metal splitting on the front | Lamination | $20–$175 |
| Material in blocked design | Retained grease strike-through | $75–$600 |
| Extra D outline | Repunched mintmark | $40–$800 |
| Repeated letters | Doubled die | $25–$1,000 |
| Separated E and S | Type B reverse on an ordinary strike | $25–$1,200 |
1. 1959 Quarter Quarter Designs on a Smaller Disc: Wrong Nickel or Penny Blank Error
Outer letters may be stretched or cut off when quarter dies strike a blank intended for another denomination. A nickel blank can take much of the design, while a smaller copper-alloy penny blank leaves less room for it.
The documented Denver penny-blank coin retains a complete date and D but loses parts of LIBERTY and the denomination. A Philadelphia nickel-blank example shows distortion particularly in QUARTER DOLLAR.
How to Identify
A normal 1959 quarter is 90% silver and weighs 6.25 grams. For loose candidates, compare weight and dimensions with the proposed original blank: about 3.11 grams and 19.05 millimeters for a penny, or 5 grams and 21.21 millimeters for a nickel.
Striking can spread the metal, so the final diameter need not equal the starting blank’s diameter. A separate documented nickel-blank example in NGC MS66 actually weighs 5.1 grams.
On the Denver copper-alloy specimen, check that the brown surfaces, smaller blank, surviving date, and reverse D agree. Examine the edge for trimming or plating, which can change a normal quarter’s appearance without creating a wrong-blank strike.
What It’s Worth
$500–$2,500 is the supplied estimate for comparable identified wrong-blank quarters. The blank’s identity, readable date, and preservation are more useful than color alone when choosing a comparison.
The Philadelphia nickel-blank coin graded ANACS MS65 sold for $805 in March 2006. The Denver penny-blank example, graded NGC MS65 Brown, brought $1,380 in February 2011.
These are two separate specimens, and neither should be assigned the 5.1-gram measurement belonging to the NGC MS66 nickel example.
2. 1959 Quarter An Edge Section Missing Before Striking: Clipped Blank Error
A curved or straight gap can result when the metal strip does not supply a complete disc during blanking. The incomplete blank then receives the quarter design with that section already absent.
The supplied year guides include clips for 1959 without fixing a particular mint or gap size. The missing outline must therefore be evaluated on the individual coin.
How to Identify
Follow the struck rim toward both endpoints of the gap. Its formation and nearby metal should support an incomplete blank, rather than a finished quarter later cut apart.
A weakened rim opposite the gap can support the identification, but it does not replace examining the gap itself. Filed surfaces, cutting grooves, or letters sliced through after striking suggest damage.
Include the date, both endpoints, and the full outline in photographs. Handle the remaining edge without working or scraping the opening.
What It’s Worth
$25–$400 is the supplied estimate for identifiable 1959 clips of differing sizes and conditions. A clear original gap and readable date are stronger evidence than an unusual silhouette alone.
A 1980-P corner clip graded NGC MS65 sold for $204 in June 2023. That later clad quarter is a different-year comparison, not a realized price for a silver 1959 clip.
3. 1959 Quarter One Design Shifted Toward the Edge: Off-Center Strike Error
An untouched crescent beside a partly missing design suggests that the blank was misplaced beneath the dies. A historical Fred Weinberg listing records a Philadelphia 1959 quarter struck 30% off-center toward ten o’clock.
That direction belongs to the listed example. A genuine off-center quarter can point another way and need not have been struck twice.
How to Identify
Keep Washington upright when using clock positions to describe the displacement. Check both faces for the effect of the same blank sitting away from the die centers.
If only one face is displaced, investigate a misaligned die instead. The apparent unstruck crescent should retain original blank metal, without grinding marks or flattened remnants of an earlier full design.
Trace the boundary between the struck and unstruck areas. One displaced group of details establishes the proposed off-center event, while a second recognizable group is needed to support a double strike.
What It’s Worth
$100–$750 is the supplied estimate for identifiable 1959 off-center quarters. The historical 30% listing establishes an example of the type but does not supply a completed price here.
A 1988-P quarter struck 30% off-center, graded ANACS MS63, sold for $109 in January 2022. Its later clad composition and different date limit direct comparison with the 1959 silver issue.
4. 1959 Quarter Two Distinct Groups of Design: Double Strike Error
The documented double-struck quarter shows a later impression displaced far beyond the first. Its second strike is described as 60% off-center, referring to where that blow landed rather than a percentage of missing metal.
A coin that remained in or returned to the striking area could receive another impact after moving. This produces separate arrangements of quarter details, unlike the small repeated outlines already present in a doubled die.
How to Identify
Locate recognizable portrait edges or lettering from the first impression, then follow the displaced second group. Study the overlap to see how the later strike altered earlier details.
Turn the coin over and compare the corresponding reverse effects. Random dents or marks from squeezing coins together do not establish two genuine strikes just because they create additional lines.
Photograph the entire outline without cropping away the displaced portion. A 60% off-center second strike does not mean that 60% of the original disc was removed.
What It’s Worth
$2,000–$6,000 is the supplied estimate for a similarly clear 1959 double strike. Surviving dates, the separation of the impressions, and original surfaces influence the appeal.
The PCGS MS63 example with its second strike 60% off-center sold for $4,560 on July 15, 2021. That is one price for the complete coin, not separate double-strike and off-center premiums to add together.
5. 1959 Quarter A Thin Split Across Washington’s Side: Lamination Error
A lamination exposes separation within the alloy, sometimes as an attached flap and sometimes as a missing fragment. A market listing describes a front-side lamination on a 1959-D quarter.
This silver alloy is normally solid throughout. The flaw is different from a missing outer layer on later clad quarters, which have a copper center between pale outer layers.
How to Identify
Inspect where intact design meets the rough opening for a split continuing naturally into the metal. A gouge may instead show a tool cutting or pushing away the finished surface.
Change the lighting to examine any thin attached edge, leaving the flap in place. Bending or peeling it would alter the evidence.
Confirm the D beneath the reverse wreath. A copper-colored patch under a silvery coating needs another explanation unless the visible structure supports a genuine separation within the quarter’s normal silver alloy.
What It’s Worth
$20–$175 is the supplied estimate for a genuine 1959-D front lamination. The extent of original separation, clarity of an attached flap, wear, and cleaning affect the total value.
The supplied market description is not a completed-sale record. A rough patch mixed with later scratches is also a less useful comparison than an unmistakable natural split.
6. 1959 Quarter Material Remaining in a Weak Area: Struck Through Retained Grease Error
Material caught between a die and the blank can block the design during the strike. Some remains on a retained-grease error, connecting the interrupted detail with the obstruction that caused it.
PCGS records a 1959 quarter in MS64 with this description. Its significance lies in the pressure relationship between the retained patch and surrounding design, not merely in the patch being dark.
How to Identify
Leave the material attached and inspect its border with angled light. Look for detail that stops or weakens where the obstruction met the coin.
Dirt added later can sit over lettering that had already formed completely. A stain may change color without interrupting the strike at all.
The PCGS-certified MS64 example provides an identified comparison. Match the actual surface relationships before applying its error description to another coin.
What It’s Worth
$75–$600 is the supplied estimate for a correctly identified retained-grease strike. An obvious blocked area retaining original material offers more evidence than ordinary weak lettering.
A 1963 quarter struck through a retained copper fragment, graded ANACS MS64, sold for $720 in July 2021. That different-year, different-material obstruction is broader context rather than a direct price for retained grease.
7. 1959 Quarter A Repeated Outline at the D: Repunched Mintmark Error
The mintmark on a 1959-D quarter sits below the wreath on the eagle side. FS-501 identifies a repunched D, where more than one impression of the mintmark punch survived in the die.
Coins struck from that die can display the extra letter outline after one ordinary strike. The repetition does not require the coin itself to pass through the press twice.
How to Identify
Compare the D upright with a sharp FS-501 reference at similar magnification. Follow the surviving letter shape instead of guessing a punch direction from a thick-looking edge.
At about 10× magnification, change the light direction to separate actual raised detail from shadow. Inspect nearby metal for a hit that pushed the mintmark sideways.
A flat shelf from mechanical doubling or a swollen damaged letter is not enough. The extra outline needs to match the named repunched variety.
What It’s Worth
$40–$800 is the supplied estimate for correctly identified 1959-D repunched mintmarks. Clear letter remnants and preservation of the surrounding reverse improve the comparison.
PCGS records an FS-501 example in MS65 at about $541 in January 2017. MS65 indicates an unworn coin with relatively few marks, not the condition of every D that appears doubled.
8. 1959 Quarter Repeated Motto or Reverse Letters: Doubled Dies Error
The Proof FS-101 front variety is chiefly examined at IN GOD WE TRUST. Its repeated outlines were formed in the die during preparation, so they differ from another impression struck onto a finished coin.
A separate report describes doubled UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and QUARTER DOLLAR on the reverse. That report does not establish a Proof finish or show that the front and back varieties occur on the same coin.
How to Identify
For FS-101, compare separated rounded outlines across several motto letters, then examine the other front lettering. Flat ledges and pushed metal can imitate an extra edge without matching a doubled die.
Verify the collector Proof identity as well as the lettering against an identified Proof FS-101 example. A reflective patch alone does not establish a Proof.
For a reverse candidate, examine the country name and denomination independently. It needs its own repeatable pattern, rather than borrowing the FS-101 name from the other face.
What It’s Worth
$25–$1,000 spans the supplied estimates for this group: $50–$1,000 for identified Proof FS-101 examples and $25–$250 for a genuine, matched doubled reverse. Finish and attribution must be established before selecting the relevant range.
PCGS records a Proof FS-101 in PR67 at $288 in September 2011. That result includes the condition of the complete Proof coin and does not price the separately reported reverse.
9. 1959 Quarter Extra Space Between E and S: Type B Reverse Error
A noticeable gap between E and S in STATES can lead to the Type B reverse identification. This design, associated with Proof dies, also appears on some ordinary Philadelphia strikes cataloged as FS-901.
The unusual pairing is the Type B design on an ordinary strike. A genuine Proof normally has that reverse style and does not become this circulation-strike variety simply because its letters match.
How to Identify
Compare STATES with a normal Type A reverse at the same scale. Then check the eagle and nearby leaves against a Type B reference so the attribution rests on more than one gap.
A scratch between letters cannot reproduce the other design differences. Confirm ordinary-strike status from the complete coin or a reliable grading label, rather than equating brightness with Proof manufacture.
What It’s Worth
$25–$1,200 is the supplied estimate for ordinary-strike 1959 FS-901 coins. Normal Proof quarters belong in their own Proof comparisons.
PCGS records a Type B example graded MS66+ at $900 in February 2018. That high-condition result describes the whole coin, with its attractive surfaces as well as its reverse variety.
Conclusion
For a 1959 quarter, a convincing identification should account for the metal, the arrangement of the designs, and the small details together. A wrong blank, displaced strike, or retained obstruction each leaves a different kind of evidence.
Record mint and finish before using a named variety’s price, and preserve attached material or metal flakes. The strongest sale comparison matches the actual error and condition instead of relying on a familiar label or a bright surface.
