2002-P Tennessee Quarter
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 361,600,000 made
- Mintage
- 361,600,000
- Metal
- Copper core clad in 75% copper / 25% nickel
- Weight
- 5.67 g
- Diameter
- 24.26 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 2002-P Tennessee Quarter worth?
A worn 2002-P Tennessee is a spender: face value. A bright uncirculated one, or one with a known error, is worth setting aside.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- A die variety or minting error
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 2002-P Tennessee Quarter rare?
- Not by date: 362 million were struck. A sharp uncirculated coin or a known variety is what makes one special.
- Is the 2002-P Tennessee Quarter silver?
- No. It's copper core clad in 75% copper / 25% nickel. Quarters dated 1964 and earlier are 90% silver.
- Where is the mint mark on a 2002 50 State Quarter?
- On the obverse, to the right of Washington's ponytail (P, D or S). On this coin the mark is P, for Philadelphia.
- How many 2002-P Tennessee Quarter coins were made?
- 361,600,000.
What to check on your 2002-P
- Make sure the mint mark really is a P. A worn or filled mark can be misread. It's what separates your coin from the 2002-D (286 million made).
- Proof or circulation strike? A proof has mirror-like fields and frosted design details and was sold to collectors, not released in change. The 2002-S Tennessee Quarter Proof (3,084,245 made) is the one to compare with.
- A face that's fully copper colored could be a missing clad layer error. Patchy discoloration is usually damage.
- Judge the grade under good light. State quarters are judged mainly on luster and contact marks. Look for die varieties and errors, which carry the real premiums in this series.
With 362 million made, the 2002-P still turns up in everyday change. Keep yours only if it looks uncirculated or shows a variety; otherwise it's worth face value.
The story of the 2002-P Tennessee
Philadelphia made 361,600,000 of the Tennessee quarter. Among the 5 designs of 2002 it was the middle Philadelphia run, between Mississippi (290 million) and Louisiana (362 million).
Denver struck a similar number of the same design (286 million), so neither mint's version is much harder to find.
Across the whole program it sits 34th of 50 Philadelphia designs by mintage, where the scarcest is Iowa at 214 million.
More on the 2002-P
Tennessee's quarter opened the 2002 releases. Philadelphia struck 361,600,000 of them, about 75 million more than Denver's 286,468,000, which was the lowest Denver figure of any 2002 design. Philadelphia's total also sat just behind Indiana and Louisiana. Its total was also about 144 million above Philadelphia's Ohio run of 217,200,000.
That makes the P the easier Tennessee to find, although both are common. Tennessee was the first state created from federal territory, admitted in 1796 after its time as the Southwest Territory. On the coin, the strings of the fiddle and guitar are fine raised lines that wear early, so they're the first place to check a coin from change. The trumpet's bell and the sheet music beneath are the other high points. Look at the three stars above the instruments too; they should have sharp points. A worn 2002-P is face value. A bright uncirculated coin with crisp strings carries a small premium; only the very top certified grades bring a collector premium.
How to recognize it
The Tennessee design
Three musical instruments fill this reverse: a fiddle, a trumpet and a guitar, set over an open musical score with three stars above. A banner reads MUSICAL HERITAGE. The stars stand for the state's three regions, each with its own tradition, from Appalachian fiddle music in the east to country in Nashville and the blues in Memphis. Tennessee became the sixteenth state in 1796, the year shown on the coin. It was the first State quarter released in 2002.
The 50 State Quarter design
To make room for each state design, the obverse was rearranged: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, LIBERTY, IN GOD WE TRUST and QUARTER DOLLAR all moved to the side with Washington's portrait. The reverse shows the state's design with its name, the year it joined the Union or ratified the Constitution, the year of issue and E PLURIBUS UNUM. The mint mark is to the right of Washington's ponytail.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | 50 State Quarter (1999–2008) |
|---|---|
| Year | 2002 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | "P" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 361,600,000 |
| Face value | 25¢ |
| Composition | Copper core clad in 75% copper / 25% nickel |
| Weight | 5.67 grams |
| Diameter | 24.26 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Designer | Obverse by John Flanagan, modified by William Cousins; reverses by various artists |
Other 2002 50 State Quarter issues
Mintage: 50 State quarters (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.