1917 Standing Liberty Quarter, Type 1
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 8,740,000 made
- Mintage
- 8,740,000
- Metal
- 90% silver, 10% copper
- Weight
- 6.25 g
- Diameter
- 24.3 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1917 Standing Liberty Quarter, Type 1 worth?
In worn condition it trades for about its silver content, 0.1808 troy ounces. Uncirculated coins with full luster or attractive toning sell for more.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- A full head on Liberty (FH)
- A die variety or minting error
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1917 Standing Liberty Quarter, Type 1 rare?
- Not by date: 8.7 million were struck. A sharp uncirculated coin or a known variety is what makes one special.
- Is the 1917 Standing Liberty Quarter, Type 1 silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.1808 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on a 1917 Standing Liberty Quarter?
- On the obverse, to the left of the date, beside Liberty's foot. Philadelphia quarters have no mint mark.
- Which Philadelphia dates near 1917 are scarcer?
- The 1916 at 52,000, the 1921 at 1,916,000. So the 1917 is on the scarcer side for those years.
- How many 1917 Standing Liberty Quarter, Type 1 coins were made?
- 8,740,000.
What to check on your 1917
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- Dates on early Standing Liberty quarters were raised and wore off easily. A clear, full date adds a great deal to a coin from these years.
- Don't clean it. Cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- Judge the grade under good light. Liberty's head is rarely fully struck; "Full Head" (FH) coins command big premiums. The date must be readable for a coin to be worth much.
Circulated examples are usually traded for their silver content. Pick out the best ones: original luster and attractive toning lift a coin above melt, while cleaned coins lose most of their collector value.
The story of the 1917
Philadelphia ramped up hard in 1917: 8,740,000 coins, about 168 times the 1916 run. In 1917 the figure was 14 million.
1917-D came to 1.5 million and 1917-S came to 2 million and 1917-S came to 5.6 million and 1917-D came to 6.2 million and 1917 came to 14 million, so neither mint's 1917 coin is much scarcer than the other.
Across Philadelphia's 15 Standing Liberty Quarter issues, the hardest to find is the 1916 with 52,000 made. The 1917 is on the scarcer side of the middle. Within the 1910s it's 9th smallest of 13, between the 1918-D (7.4 million) and the 1918-S (11 million).
The bare-breasted Type 1 and the 1917 change (1916 to 1917)
Hermon A. MacNeil's Standing Liberty quarter was struck late in 1916 in a run of only 52,000 pieces and released in January 1917. Liberty steps through a gateway holding a shield and an olive branch with her right breast exposed. The eagle on the reverse flies with no stars beneath it. The 1916 is the key of the series and a frequent target of altered dates.
Type 1 quarters continued into 1917 at all three mints, with more than 8.7 million at Philadelphia. Partway through 1917 the design changed to Type 2: Liberty's chest is covered by chain mail and the reverse eagle is raised, with three stars added below it. Both types of 1917 coins have the mint mark on the obverse, to the left of the date. The raised date was a high point of the design, so many 1917 coins now show a partial date.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1917
The Standing Liberty quarter was redesigned to cover Liberty with chain mail. The mint mark on the Walking Liberty half dollar moved from the obverse to the reverse.
How to recognize it
Liberty strides through a gateway with a shield raised in one hand and an olive branch in the other. The first coins of 1916 and 1917 show her bare-breasted; later coins cover her in chain mail. The reverse shows an eagle in flight. The date was raised on the step and wore away quickly until it was recessed in 1925. Collectors prize coins with a "full head" of fine detail.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Standing Liberty Quarter (1916–1930) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 8,740,000 |
| Face value | 25¢ |
| Composition | 90% silver, 10% copper |
| Weight | 6.25 grams |
| Diameter | 24.3 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content | 0.1808 troy oz (5.625 g) |
| Designer | Hermon A. MacNeil |
Other 1917 Standing Liberty Quarter issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1917 Standing Liberty Quarter, Type 1 | 8,740,000 | Circulation strike | 0.1808 oz |
| 1917 Standing Liberty Quarter, Type 2 | 13,880,000 | Circulation strike | 0.1808 oz |
| 1917-D Standing Liberty Quarter, Type 1 | 1,509,200 | Circulation strike | 0.1808 oz |
| 1917-D Standing Liberty Quarter, Type 2 | 6,224,400 | Circulation strike | 0.1808 oz |
| 1917-S Standing Liberty Quarter, Type 1 | 1,952,000 | Circulation strike | 0.1808 oz |
| 1917-S Standing Liberty Quarter, Type 2 | 5,552,000 | Circulation strike | 0.1808 oz |
Mintage: United States quarter mintage figures (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.