1967

The 1967 quarter is the third and final year of the Treasury-mandated mintmark suspension across U.S. coinage. The Mint struck 1,524,031,848 pieces, a return to billion-coin output after the 1966 dip and a sign that commercial cash demand for the clad denomination had stabilized at a higher level than the silver run ever supported. The composition holds at the new outer cladding of 75% copper and 25% nickel bonded to a pure copper core, with the finished blank weighing 5.67 grams and containing no silver. Every 1967 quarter carries no mintmark even though production happened at Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco, since Treasury continued the suspension begun in 1965 to discourage rumored hoarding of specific mint marks before restoring them in 1968.

Strike quality on the 1967 runs from average to soft, with the heavy production schedule yielding many weakly struck examples lacking full eagle breast feather detail and full hair definition above the ear. Authentication priorities focus on the no-mintmark configuration and clad composition. The weight test resolves any question about composition cleanly at 5.67 grams, and the edge shows the reddish copper-core line characteristic of clad. Counterfeit pieces with added D or S mintmarks have surfaced periodically on 1965 through 1967 dates, so any 1967 carrying a mintmark on either side is by definition altered and deserves immediate rejection. The first Special Mint Set issues from 1965 to 1967 produced a parallel category of higher-strike quality 1967 quarters distributed by Treasury in special sets rather than proof sets, which were suspended through this window; SMS examples show satin-like surfaces distinct from the bag-marked business strikes. Population reports at PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, show the standard business strike plentiful through MS64, with a meaningful drop at MS66 and genuine condition rarity at MS67.

The 1967 business strike is a common date in the modern catalog, set-fillable in circulated grades essentially at face value and obtainable in MS65 without effort. Registry-set builders chase the thin MS67 pool, where bag-marks and weak strikes from the high-output year mean genuine gems remain scarce. Realistic acquisition is a certified MS65 or MS66 from a major auction, with the upgrade path running into firm resistance at MS67. For the broader story of John Flanagan's design, the 1965 silver-to-clad transition, and the series' production arc, see the Washington Quarter series history.