1965 Washington Quarter
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 1,819,717,540 made
- Mintage
- 1,819,717,540
- 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 1965 Washington Quarter worth?
Worn examples are worth face value and can be spent. Keep it only if it looks uncirculated or shows a known variety.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- A known variety for the date: 1965 Silver Quarter (Transitional Error)
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Check your coin for the 1965 Silver Quarter (Transitional Error). It is a known wrong planchet for this date and mint.
Quick answers
- Is the 1965 Washington Quarter rare?
- No. With 1.8 billion made, it's one of the most common Washington Quarters.
- Is the 1965 Washington 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 1965 Washington Quarter?
- No mint mark. Mint marks were suspended in 1965–1967.
- Which Philadelphia dates near 1965 are scarcer?
- The 1960 at 29,164,000, the 1962 at 36,156,000, the 1961 at 37,036,000, plus 7 more. So the 1965 is one of the easier dates of its stretch.
- How many 1965 Washington Quarter coins were made?
- 1,819,717,540.
What to check on your 1965
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- Check the edge for the copper stripe of the new clad coinage. A 1965 coin that is solid silver and weighs more than normal could be a rare transitional error struck on a leftover silver planchet.
- There is no mint mark to look for. The Mint omitted mint marks from 1965 to 1967, so coins struck at Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco look identical.
- Look for the 1965 Silver Quarter (Transitional Error).
- Proof or circulation strike? A collector strike has a satin or special finish and was sold to collectors, not released in change. The 1965 Washington Quarter SMS (2,360,000 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. Wear starts on the hair above Washington's ear and on the eagle's breast feathers.
With 1.8 billion made, the 1965 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 1965
Philadelphia ramped up hard in 1965: 1,819,717,540 coins, about 3.2 times the 1964 run. In 1966 the figure was 821 million.
No other mint struck it for circulation that year, so every 1965 you find is from Philadelphia.
Of the 64 Washington Quarters Philadelphia struck between 1932 and 1998, none was made in bigger numbers. The scarcest Philadelphia issue is the 1932 at 5,404,000. No Washington Quarter of the 1960s had a bigger run.
It also marks a change of metal: 1965 is the first year of the Washington Quarter in copper core clad in 75% copper / 25% nickel, which lasted until 1998.
Clad quarters and the mint mark move (1965 to 1974)
The 1965 quarter dropped silver for a pure copper core clad in copper-nickel, weighing 5.67 grams. No mint marks were used from 1965 through 1967 and Special Mint Sets replaced proof sets. Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco all struck circulation quarters in those years, so the mint of an individual coin cannot be identified.
From 1968 the mint mark moved to the obverse, to the right of Washington's ribbon. San Francisco took over proof production that year. Transitional errors such as 1965 quarters struck on 90 percent silver planchets are rare and are confirmed by weight. Denver struck more than 417 million quarters in 1970. The 1974 issue was the last with the eagle reverse before the bicentennial design. No quarter carries a 1975 date.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1965
The Coinage Act of 1965 replaced silver in dimes and quarters with copper-nickel clad copper and cut the half dollar to 40% silver. Mint marks were dropped from 1965 to 1967 and Special Mint Sets replaced proof sets.
How to recognize it
John Flanagan's portrait shows George Washington facing left with LIBERTY above, IN GOD WE TRUST to the left and the date below. The reverse shows an eagle standing on a bundle of arrows above two olive branches, with QUARTER DOLLAR along the bottom. The mint mark was below the wreath on the reverse until 1964 and on the obverse behind Washington's hair from 1968.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Washington Quarter (1932–1998) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1965 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 1,819,717,540 |
| Face value | 25¢ |
| Composition | Copper core clad in 75% copper / 25% nickel |
| Weight | 5.67 grams |
| Diameter | 24.26 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Designer | John Flanagan |
Other 1965 Washington Quarter issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 Washington Quarter | 1,819,717,540 | Circulation strike | – |
| 1965 Washington Quarter SMS | 2,360,000 | Special Mint Set | – |
Mintage: Washington 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.