Expert: PAPAJACK - 12/30/2008

Question
I have approximately $600.00 in mixed quarters collected over the last couple of years.  I am preparing to take them into the credit union and get cash for them.  Are there any significant collectibility issues I should be aware of regarding state quarters which compose a large portion of my collection.  For example, is there any truth to the North Carolina quarter rumor I've heard about "First Flight" being a misprint?  Any information you can provide will be helpful and greatly appreciated.

Answer
Hello Mark,                          

There were 10 years and 50 designs made at three mints. This leaves BILLIONS of coins to be looked through and only a few hundred thousand defects may be found.
The only First Flight error anyone wrote me about turned out to be missing lettering caused by a filled die recess.

So prepare yourself for it. And most of the reported defects do not sell to anyone but Error-Coin-Collectors.

Errors come in different classes only the actual faulty die defect is selling at a premium.

Struck through errors or filled die errors are the most common and do not carry a premium.
Any coin that is missing lettering, numeral, or a portion of the design was this error.
It is easy to notice and is probably the most frequently encountered State Quarter error.

Clipped planchett error has some of the diameter missing.

Any coin struck on a different coin blank like a quarter design struck on a Nickel planchet  
Any Double Struck-coin you will see the Second Strike rotated on top of the initial image.

Any coin more than 10% off center.
Any coin where the Clad Layer is missing and you will see the copper core.

Statehood Quarters had many errors that all coins do. There are no special dies defects making any one issue very expensive.

Here are a few things

Extra tree on the Minnesota State Quarters These have been retailing for around $10.
http://z.about.com/d/coins/1/G/x/0/-/-/Minnesota_Quarter_Extra_Tree_Error_1_200....

Wisconsin Quarter high and low corn stalk leaves; you can expect to get from $50 to $110 if the error coin is in a collectable grade. Here are the images;
http://www.us-coin-values-advisor.com/images/Wisconsin-High-Leaf-Error.jpg
http://www.us-coin-values-advisor.com/images/Wisconsin-Low-Leaf-Error.jpg
http://www.us-coin-values-advisor.com/images/Wisconsin-no-error.jpg


For more error finds try the sites listed below.  The Wisconsin is the most famous right now but it may be hard to get a high price for a low grade example of each variety.  
http://www.us-coin-values-advisor.com/state-quarter-errors.html#Wisconsin%20Stat...

This is an excellent site for your quarter error information.
http://koinpro.tripod.com/Articles/finding_states_quarters_errorsa_.htm

For looks at other types of errors and defects you can use the images on this page;
http://minterrornews.com/priceguide.html

Feel free to write me back in a new question for more information on this and mark it private.

I hope this information helps!

Happy New Year and Good Luck,

PapaJack