1982-P

The 1982-P quarter is the first of the two consecutive dates that the U.S. Mint did not include in a standard Uncirculated Coin Set, a packaging decision that has shaped the issue's collecting profile ever since. Production reached 500,931,000 pieces under the standard clad composition of cupronickel bonded to pure copper, 5.67 grams, with the reddish edge line as the visual indicator of post-1965 construction. The P mintmark sits at the right of Washington's hair queue on the obverse, in the third year of the Philadelphia mintmark on the denomination. The reverse continues the Flanagan heraldic eagle restored in 1977. Only a low-volume Souvenir Mint Set sold at Mint visitor centers carried 1982 P and D quarters in collector packaging that year.

Strike quality on the issue is the familiar early-1980s Philadelphia pattern: softness on Washington's hair above the ear and on the eagle's breast feathers at center reverse, with well-struck examples meaningfully harder to find at higher grade levels. The absence of standard mint set distribution matters because almost every 1982-P quarter that survives today came out of a circulating bag or roll rather than from a sealed-package source, with the abrasive bag environment leaving most pieces at MS63 or MS64 even when uncirculated. No major doubled-die or repunched-mintmark varieties for the circulation date have been recognized by PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, or NGC, the Numismatic Guaranty Company. Counterfeit risk is nil.

The 1982-P is a common Regular issue in raw form and in low Mint State grades, but a meaningful condition rarity at MS66 and above. The mint set absence makes 1982-P and its 1982-D companion the standout condition-tough modern Washingtons of the early clad era, with population reports thin in Gem grades and meaningful premiums attached to certified MS66 and MS67 material. Registry collectors and condition-set assemblers pursue the date specifically for that scarcity profile. Original BU rolls and the rare surviving Souvenir Mint Set remain the practical hunting ground for upgrade candidates. For the broader story of John Flanagan's design and the series' production arc, see the Washington Quarter series history.