The 1932-S Washington quarter: from 25 cents to US$76,250

CoinWeek (opens in a new tab) (2 November 2026) reports that a 1932-S Washington quarter, encapsulated by PCGS at MS66+ and approved by CAC, closed at US$76,250 at Heritage Auctions. CoinWeek gives it as the auction record for the issue, buyer’s premium included. PCGS CoinFacts (opens in a new tab) lists the same line: US$76,250, MS66+, Heritage, 18 July 2026. CoinWeek dates the lot to 16 July. Sixbid (opens in a new tab) reprints the description of lot 3069 from sale 1394, with sessions from 16 to 18 July. The coin is not in Notofilia’s virtual collection.

The quarter commerce did not need

CoinWeek places the issue in George Washington’s bicentennial and in the Depression. Congress authorized the new design on 4 March 1931: Washington’s portrait on the obverse, for circulation, in place of Hermon A. MacNeil’s Standing Liberty quarter. The Mint struck no quarters in 1931. CoinWeek notes that it struck none in 1930 or in 1933 either.

PCGS CoinFacts (opens in a new tab) gives the San Francisco mintage: 408,000, the lowest regular-issue Washington quarter. CoinWeek splits the rest of 1932: Philadelphia 5,404,000, with no mint mark, and Denver 436,800. The three figures add up to 6,248,800. The S, below the olive branches and above QUARTER DOLLAR, is San Francisco’s mint mark. In the collection, the same letter identifies the 1887-S Morgan dollar. That is a different coin.

Twenty-five cents and postage

Ron Guth, on the PCGS page, cites the June 1934 issue of The Numismatist, page 416: uncirculated 1932-S quarters could still be ordered from the United States Treasury at face value plus first-class postage. CoinWeek reads the 25 cents there. The notice does not say how many orders were placed, or which coin became the MS66+.

PCGS CoinFacts survival estimates — expert opinion, not a physical census — are 40,000 in all grades, 12,000 at MS60 or better, and 500 at MS65 or better. David Hall, on the same page, writes that the 1932-D is nearly twice as scarce in uncirculated condition, even though Denver struck a few more. MS66+ is a step on the Sheldon scale.

Lot 3069

The description Sixbid reprints notes iridescence to the left of the portrait, luster on the rest, a firm strike, and clean surfaces. As of June 2026, the Heritage text counts 11 PCGS grading events at MS66, one of them MS66+, none finer, and 3 with CAC at that grade. Across PCGS and NGC, 20 events at MS66. The description warns that those populations can count the same coin twice. CoinWeek places the previous record at US$52,800: a PCGS MS66 with CAC, at Heritage, in February 2025. That figure is CoinWeek’s.

The same grade does not set the price

CoinWeek lists other 2026 realizations, with premium, for separate coins: a PCGS VF25 at US$84 (Heritage, 28 April); a PCGS MS63 at US$537 (Stack’s Bowers, May); a PCGS MS64 at US$1,342 (Stack’s Bowers, June); a PCGS MS65 at US$1,952 and a PCGS MS65 with CAC at US$13,420 (Heritage, January; the second on 15 January); a PCGS MS66 at US$31,720 (Heritage, 26 March); a toned PCGS MS66 at US$32,625 (GreatCollections, 8 March). Each line is one coin. It is not the price of the grade, and it is not a Notofilia appraisal.

Flanagan and the specification

CoinWeek recalls the portrait competition. Laura Gardin Fraser showed Washington facing right. John Flanagan showed him facing left. The Commission of Fine Arts recommended Fraser. Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon chose Flanagan. The reverse, also his, sets the eagle on a bundle of arrows, with olive branches below. CoinWeek adds that the United States Mint used Fraser’s portrait on the 1999 gold $5 and, from 2022, on the American Women quarters.

PCGS CoinFacts lists the 1932-S as follows: John Flanagan, reeded edge, diameter 24.30 mm, 90% silver and 10% copper, weight 6.30 g, San Francisco Mint, PCGS number 5792. CoinWeek prints the series weight of 6.25 g and about 0.18084 troy ounces of pure silver. We did not weigh the lot. The photograph on this note is an NGC 1932 Philadelphia quarter, with no S. It is not lot 3069.