1986-P

The 1986-P quarter was struck to 551,199,333 pieces, a routine high-volume mintage for Philadelphia in the middle of the clad-quarter run and ahead of its Denver counterpart of the same year. The P mintmark sits at the right side of Washington's hair queue on the obverse, in the position established when Philadelphia first added a mintmark to the denomination in 1980 alongside the dime, half dollar, and dollar. The coin is a standard 75% copper over 25% nickel clad strike bonded to a pure-copper core, weighing 5.67 grams against the 6.25 grams of pre-1965 silver Washingtons, with the reddish copper edge line the immediate visual confirmation of clad composition. Nothing about the date breaks the established pattern of mid-1980s Philadelphia output.

Strike quality on the issue is generally good rather than consistently sharp. Philadelphia presses in 1986 produced reliable hair detail on the obverse but recurring softness on the eagle's breast feathers and arrow detail at center reverse, the standard weak points for clad quarters across the run. Look for crisp tail-feather definition and full step lines in the eagle's plumage as a quick check on overall strike; a mushy center reverse on an otherwise lustrous example signals incomplete planchet fill under die pressure rather than a worn coin. No major doubled-die obverses or repunched-mintmark varieties for the date have been formally attributed by PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, or NGC, the Numismatic Guaranty Company. Counterfeit risk is essentially nil because the coin trades for face value through MS64.

In collecting terms, the 1986-P is a common date and the site classifies it Regular. MS65 and MS66 examples are easy to acquire at modest prices, with mint sets and original bank-wrapped rolls providing the practical supply pool for Gem material. Condition rarity arrives at MS67 and above, where strike softness, minor planchet flaws, and bag-mark accumulation thin the certified population sharply, and registry-set collectors pay meaningful premiums for the few luster-bright Gems with full central detail. A year-set builder fills the slot at minimal cost; an upgrade-path collector hunts certified MS67 examples sourced from original 1986 mint set submissions. For the broader story of John Flanagan's design and the series' production arc, see the Washington Quarter series history.