State Quarters Worth is an independent reference for the 50 State Quarters and modern Washington quarter programs — written for owners trying to determine whether a coin they found, inherited, or set aside is actually worth more than twenty-five cents, sourced from PCGS, NGC, Greysheet, and recent realized prices, not guesswork.
Who We Are
This reference started because one of us inherited a binder of state quarters from a grandparent and spent an afternoon trying to figure out which ones — if any — were worth keeping. Every search turned up either a dealer trying to sell a collection set or a video claiming that a 1999-P Delaware quarter with a certain reverse strike was worth hundreds of dollars. Checking the actual Heritage auction archives told a different story entirely. So we built the reference we wished had existed. Our editorial perspective on state quarters is deliberately balanced. Some dates, mint marks, and error varieties do carry genuine premiums — certain proof issues, low-population certified examples, and documented striking errors can be worth real money to the right buyer. But the honest baseline for most state quarters is face value, or close to it. We cover both ends: the practical value a typical owner should expect, and the specific exceptions where authentication and grade actually matter.
Methodology
Every value range published on this site is cross-referenced against at least three sources before it goes live. For circulated grades, we start with the Greysheet (CDN) wholesale bid sheets, which reflect what dealers actually pay — not retail retail-counter asking prices. We then compare against the PCGS Price Guide and NGC Price Guide to triangulate a realistic range across grades from Good through Mint State. For higher-grade examples and key error varieties, we pull realized prices directly from Heritage Auctions, Stack's Bowers, and GreatCollections, filtering for the most recent comparable sales within the past 18 months. PCGS CoinFacts population data helps us assess how scarce a given grade actually is for a specific state quarter date and mint mark. When sources disagree — and they do — we note the spread rather than picking the flattering number. We flag values as 'condition-sensitive' when a single grade point can shift price by 50 percent or more, which is common in the higher Mint State tiers for this series. We re-check values after every major Heritage signature sale that includes a modern quarter section and update Greysheet-derived wholesale figures quarterly when CDN revises its bid sheets.
Our Standards
Our editorial work on state quarters covers both practical owner value and the rare top-end records — because both matter to different readers. The spine of our standard is simple: we do not publish a value we cannot support with a primary source. That means no viral-video estimates, no forum speculation, and no inflated price guides that treat every state quarter as a potential windfall. When a 2004-D Wisconsin quarter with an extra leaf variation sells for a meaningful premium over face value, we document it — with the auction house, the certified grade, and the realized price. When a reader asks whether their uncirculated 1999-P Connecticut quarter is worth anything significant, we give them the honest Greysheet bid context rather than the retail sticker price. We also explain the retail-to-wholesale spread, which for modern quarters typically runs 60 to 75 percent below retail. Condition and authentication matter most for any state quarter valued above roughly $200 in certified grades; below that threshold, the reference values are a reasonable guide without a slab. We treat our readers as people who want accurate information, not encouragement to believe they are sitting on a treasure.
Disclosure
We do not buy, sell, or appraise coins — this site is a reference, not a dealer, and nothing here should be read as a formal valuation or an offer to purchase; we do not accept paid placement for coin valuations or auction-house promotion, and no price listed here reflects a commercial relationship with any grading service or auction platform; we do not inflate value bands to suggest that circulated state quarters from pocket change are routinely worth significant sums — most are worth face value, and we say so plainly when that is the case; we do not certify coins, which is the role of PCGS, NGC, or CACG, and we encourage any owner with a potentially high-value piece to submit to a recognized third-party grading service before making financial decisions based on any reference, including ours.
Contact
If you have spotted a pricing error, a missing variety, or a recent auction result that contradicts what we have published, the team wants to know. Auction comps from Heritage, Stack's Bowers, or GreatCollections are especially useful when the lot number and grade are included. Send a note through the contact form on this site and the team will review and respond.