1941-S

San Francisco produced 16,080,000 quarters in 1941, nearly double the 8.24 million 1940-S figure and a clear sign that wartime commercial demand was lifting all three mints' Washington quarter output. The S mintmark sits on the reverse below the wreath, the standard branch-mint placement from 1932 through 1964. The figure is large enough to place the date solidly in common-date Regular territory and well above the borderline-scarce 1937-S, 1938-S, and 1939-S issues that condition-focused collectors track as Semi-Key candidates despite their official catalog classification.

Strike on the 1941-S is typically sharp, continuing the pattern of better-struck San Francisco output relative to Denver during this period. The grade distribution at PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, shows the coin is widely available through MS66, with the population thinning meaningfully at MS67 where surface quality and bag marks become the limiting factor rather than central detail. No major doubled-die or repunched-mintmark varieties are catalogued for the 1941-S, although the 1943-S Doubled Die Obverse sits two years later in the series and remains one of the well-known wartime varieties. Authentication for the 1941-S centers on confirming a legitimate struck S mintmark; the substantial mintage means little premium exists to motivate added-mintmark forgeries on this date, although the diagnostic of checking mintmark depth and spacing against verified examples remains worthwhile for any branch-mint Washington quarter.

For set builders, the 1941-S is a comfortable acquisition at any grade short of the very top. Realistic acquisition is a certified MS65 or MS66 from a major dealer or auction at modest cost, with MS67 reserved for collectors willing to pay materially more for top-pop or near-top-pop examples. Long-term pricing has been stable through the middle of the population, with movement concentrated at MS67 and above where registry-set competition drives the market. The coin completes the 1941 date alongside the 1941 Philadelphia and 1941-D, three issues that together signal the transition from Depression-era restrained mintages to the explosive wartime quarter production that would dominate the next four years of the series. For the broader story of John Flanagan's design and the series' production arc, see the Washington Quarter series history.