2016-D Cumberland Gap

Denver's 2016 Cumberland Gap output reached 168,400,000 pieces, the only 2016 design where Denver fell behind Philadelphia's matching figure of 214,200,000. The roughly 45-million spread between the two mints is the widest P-versus-D gap on any 2016 ATB date and reflects the way Federal Reserve quarter orders shifted unpredictably between the two facilities across the year. Frank Morris's reverse, with the frontiersman watching the Appalachian pass from the Kentucky overlook, was the first of Morris's two 2017-era designs and remains one of the more figural compositions in the early-middle program era.

Strike quality on the Denver issue often runs marginally crisper than Philadelphia in the rifle stock and the coat-fold detail, though die-state variation across the production run is the bigger factor in any specific example's grade. The composition follows the standard clad formula (75% copper-nickel outer layers bonded to a pure copper core, 5.67 grams total weight, 24.26 mm diameter), and authentication concerns are essentially nil for circulation-strike modern clad coinage. Counterfeiters do not target this issue: the absence of profit margin in faking face-value-clad quarters keeps the threat surface negligible. The high-grade market moves through PCGS and NGC, with raw examples in the MS65 to MS66 band remaining findable in original bank-wrapped Denver rolls.

The 2016-D Cumberland Gap is a Regular-classification issue where the certified-population data show meaningful tightening at MS68. The lower 2016-D figure relative to Philadelphia has not translated into a price premium at common grades, because all 2016-D quarters circulated in numbers far exceeding collector demand. The MS68 tier is where the date carries weight: registry set builders working toward the complete 56-design ATB run absorb that thin top-grade supply and listing prices for true MS68 examples have held steady year over year. For the broader story of the ATB program and the series' design arc, see the Washington ATB series history.