When was the last time you took a thorough look through all the changes in your change jar? If you’re like me, it has probably been a long time since you dumped out all of your coins and sorted through them in search of anything. However, experts are now urging coin-collecting Americans to do just that: go through every coin in your possession because there’s a quarter from 1999 that is worth upwards of $7,200 if sold to the right collector.
The rare coin that collectors are scrambling to get their hands on is a Georgia quarter that was minted in 1999. The piece of currency has an estimated value of more than seven thousand dollars. The reason this Georgia state quarter is worth so much more than its face value of twenty-five cents is that it was minted with a particular production error that collectors really love.
The Georgia quarter in question was minted in 1999, when the United States Treasury began its state quarters program. At that same time, the United States Mint was working with a new gold-tinted alloy for the coins it was manufacturing. This gold tint would eventually be used for the Sacagawea “golden” dollar that came into circulation a year after this valuable Georgia quarter in 2000.
“Curious how the alloy would look on quarters, a bunch of Georgia state ones were minted using it,” said the US Coins Guide. “The Treasury decided not to go with the alloy on quarters, but the ones minted with it were still released and are now very much desired by collectors.”
Collectors have been searching for this valuable Georgia state quarter for several years now. Back in January 2020, before the pandemic shut down the world a few months later, one gold-tinted Georgia quarter sold for $7,200. The coin was put up for auction by the rare coin auction house, Heritage Auctions.
In addition to its unique hue, the coin has other traits that make it different from the typical quarters in circulation. Typical quarters weigh 5.67 grams; however, this special Georgia state quarter weighs between 5.9 and 6.3 grams. If you have a quarter that weighs more than an average one, you could be sitting on a small fortune.
Other unique characteristics of the Georgia state quarter have to do with its shape and edging. The coin is thicker than typical quarters and often lacks the ridges that accompany most quarters along the thin edge.
If you believe you are in possession of one of these rare Georgia state quarters from 1999, you should present it to a coin-grading company or a reputable dealer to get its value appraised.
Now that you know that there are quarters in circulation that are worth much more than their face value of twenty-five cents, it is worth looking through your coin jar to see if you are sitting on a small treasure. If you find a gold-tinted quarter like the ones in the photo, you should approach a reputable coin dealer to get it appraised.
