1921 Standing Liberty Quarter
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 1,916,000 made
- Mintage
- 1,916,000
- 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 1921 Standing Liberty Quarter worth?
It's scarcer than a typical date, so even circulated examples sell above face and above their metal value. The best uncirculated coins are where the money is.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- A full head on Liberty (FH)
- A die variety or minting error
- Certification by PCGS or NGC, which buyers expect for scarce dates
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1921 Standing Liberty Quarter rare?
- Somewhat. 1,916,000 were made, fewer than most dates, so collectors treat it as a semi-key.
- Is the 1921 Standing Liberty Quarter silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.1808 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on a 1921 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 1921 are scarcer?
- The 1916 at 52,000. So the 1921 is on the scarcer side for those years.
- How many 1921 Standing Liberty Quarter coins were made?
- 1,916,000.
What to check on your 1921
- 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.
Never clean it. Collectors pay strong premiums for original surfaces and natural toning on a date like this. A cleaned coin can lose half its value or more.
The story of the 1921
Production at Philadelphia fell off a cliff in 1921. Only 1,916,000 were made, against 28 million the year before. That drop is why the 1921 is the one people look for. After that, Philadelphia didn't make another until 1923.
No other mint struck it for circulation that year, so every 1921 you find is from Philadelphia. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1919-D (1,944,000) and the 1917-S, Type 1 (1,952,000).
Only the 1916 has a lower mintage among Philadelphia's 15 Standing Liberty Quarters. Within the 1920s it's 8th smallest of 22, between the 1929-S (1.8 million) and the 1928-S (2.6 million).
Raised dates and soft strikes (1918 to 1924)
The Type 2 design kept the date raised on a step at Liberty's feet, where it wore away in circulation. Many Standing Liberty quarters from these years now have partial or missing dates. The 1918/7-S overdate, made when a 1917 die was repunched with an 8, is the major variety of the series and shows a faint 7 inside the 8.
Mintages were large in 1918 and 1920, but amid the postwar slump the 1921 run fell to 1,916,000. No quarters were struck in 1922. San Francisco's 1923-S, with 1,360,000 made, is a key. Branch mint coins from Denver and San Francisco often show weak strikes on Liberty's head, so a Full Head example of a 1919-D, 1920-D or 1923-S is far rarer than its mintage suggests.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1921
Morgan dollar production resumed to replace the coins melted under the Pittman Act. In December the Peace dollar by Anthony de Francisci was introduced, struck in high relief that first year.
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 | 1921 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 1,916,000 |
| 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 |
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.