1987-D

The 1987-D quarter was struck to 655,594,696 pieces, the highest Denver output of the 1985 through 1987 stretch and a figure that exceeded Philadelphia's same-year mintage. That production lead is one of the routine reversals of the late-1980s clad run, where Denver moved through periods of outproducing Philadelphia depending on coin demand at distribution. The D mintmark sits at the right side of Washington's hair queue on the obverse, in the position established when mintmarks moved off the reverse in 1968. The coin is a standard 75% copper over 25% nickel clad strike weighing 5.67 grams, with the reddish copper edge line the immediate visual confirmation of clad composition rather than a pre-1965 silver hold-over.

Strike quality on the date is mixed. Denver clad presses in the mid-1980s produced perceptible softness on Washington's hair detail and on the eagle's breast feathers at center reverse, both areas where reduced die pressure on the sandwich planchet left incomplete fill. Look for crisp tail-feather definition and sharp arrow detail below the bird as the standard markers of a full strike; weakness clusters in those zones rather than at the rim. No major doubled-die obverses or repunched-mintmark varieties have been formally attributed to the date by PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, or NGC, the Numismatic Guaranty Company. Counterfeit pressure is essentially absent because the coin trades at face value through circulated grades and no economic motive exists to fake it.

In collecting terms, the 1987-D is a common Regular issue: easy to fill a date set in MS63 through MS65 from any dealer or auction lot, and reasonable at MS66. The condition story tightens at MS67 and above, where typical Denver strike softness and bag-mark accumulation leave the certified population thin enough that registry-set collectors compete meaningfully for full-luster Gems. Original 1987 mint sets and BU rolls remain the practical hunting ground for upgrade material; modern submissions of bulk-stored coins occasionally produce the kind of luster-bright Gem with sharp central detail that grades against the date's average reputation. For the broader story of John Flanagan's design and the series' production arc, see the Washington Quarter series history.