Unlike the 1932-D and 1932-S issues from the first year of the Washington quarter dollar, a 1985-D Washington quarter wouldn’t cross anybody’s radar as a scarce coin.

Examples can still be found with some luck in circulation and it has a typical high mintage of the era at 519,962,888 pieces. Many nice examples remain in Uncirculated Coin sets, but like many quarters of the 1980s, it is elusive in very top grades. 

Inside Coin World: Readers report doubled die, repunched Mint mark finds: We preview content exclusive to the Jan. 21 print and digital editions of Coin World, including reader discoveries (like a Proof 1963 Roosevelt dime with a doubled die reverse) in the monthly column “Varieties Notebook.”

PCGS has graded 219 of them in MS-66, and one of these sold for just $21 in a recent eBay auction, while PCGS has seen only 16 in MS-67, with two in MS-67+ that share the title as the finest known.

One of these MS-67+ quarter dollars brought $3,377.25 at an Oct. 7, 2018, GreatCollections auction, providing incentive for people to take a close look at these seemingly common issues that can become conditionally rare in the highest grades. 

Demand from registry set collectors continues to put pressure on the finest-certified examples of these common coins as collectors compete to have the best sets. 

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