1968

The 1968 Philadelphia quarter marks the year mintmarks returned to U.S. coinage after the 1965 to 1967 Treasury suspension. The Mint struck 220,731,500 pieces at Philadelphia, a steep drop from the billion-plus 1967 output and a sign that the post-hoarding circulation pool had finally caught up with commercial cash demand. The composition holds at the clad alloy of 75% copper and 25% nickel bonded to a pure copper core, with the finished blank weighing 5.67 grams and containing no silver. Philadelphia quarters of this era still carry no mintmark; the P designation would not arrive on the quarter denomination until 1980. Branch-mint quarters in 1968 received a structural change in mintmark placement, with the D and S marks now appearing on the obverse to the right of Washington's hair queue rather than on the reverse below the wreath as they had from 1932 through 1964.

Strike quality on the 1968 runs from average to good, with improvement over the heaviest 1965 through 1967 die-wear period as production volumes returned to normal levels. The authentication priority on the 1968 Philadelphia is distinguishing a legitimate no-mintmark Philadelphia piece from an altered branch-mint coin where a mintmark has been mechanically removed; under five-to-ten-power magnification, any disturbed surface to the right of Washington's hair queue indicates tampering. The weight and edge tests confirm clad composition versus any attempted silver-substitution counterfeit at 5.67 grams and a reddish copper-core edge line. Population reports at PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, show the issue plentiful through MS65, with a clear thinning at MS66 and genuine condition rarity above that mark.

The 1968 is a common date in the modern catalog, set-fillable in circulated grades essentially at face value and obtainable in MS65 without effort. The date is a useful demarcation issue for collectors organizing Washington quarter type sets, since it represents the first post-suspension Philadelphia coin and the last pre-P-mintmark Philadelphia year of the clad run. Registry-set builders chase the thin MS67 pool. Realistic acquisition is a certified MS65 or MS66 from a major auction, with the upgrade path running into resistance at MS67 where strike and surfaces both matter. 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.