Standing Liberty Quarter Value (1916–1930)

The Standing Liberty quarter ran for fifteen years, from 1916 to 1930, with no coins struck in 1922. Every piece is 90% silver — 0.1808 troy oz of silver inside, which puts a real floor under every common-date coin at the live silver spot.

A handful of dates carry premium far above the floor: the 1916 with its 52,000-piece mintage, the 1918/7-S overdate, the 1921, 1923-S, and 1927-S, and any Mint State coin with a Full Head designation.

This Standing Liberty quarter guide hands you the year-by-year chart, the type breakdown, and the key-date list in one place. The companion liberty quarter searches lead to the same coin.

What is a Standing Liberty quarter worth today?

Most circulated Standing Liberty quarters from the common-date 1920s years trade at the silver floor — 0.1808 troy oz × the live silver spot — which works out to a few dollars per coin at typical silver levels. That floor is real because the coin is 90% silver and is recognized junk-silver content; any dealer who buys junk silver buys these coins by the bag.

Above the floor, the 1916 sits in the four to five figures at every grade because of the 52,000-piece mintage. The 1918/7-S overdate, the 1921, 1923-S, and 1927-S sit in the low to high hundreds in Good through Fine and climb fast at Mint State.

Full Head Mint State examples of any date carry a significant premium over the same coin without the Full Head designation, because the strike was soft across most of the series, and full-strike survivors are uncommon. The chart below works through the year-by-year ranges; the identification, mintmark, and type sections that follow walk through what a coin in your hand actually is.

Is it really a Standing Liberty quarter? Identification before valuation

The obverse shows Liberty standing on a pedestal, facing right, holding a shield in her left hand and an olive branch extended in her right. The date sits on the base of the pedestal. The reverse shows an eagle in flight with thirteen stars above. Diameter is 24.3 millimeters. Weight is 6.25 grams. Composition is 90% silver and 10% copper — the same alloy as every U.S. silver quarter from 1796 through 1964.

Two tells distinguish a Standing Liberty quarter from anything else. The standing-figure obverse is unique — no other circulating U.S. quarter shows a full standing Liberty. The eagle-in-flight reverse is also unique — every Washington quarter has an eagle perched on arrows, not in flight.

A Barber quarter from 1892 through 1916 shows a profile Liberty bust similar to the Barber dime and half, a completely different design. A coin with no visible date is often a worn pre-1925 Standing Liberty quarter — the date wore off in circulation on many examples, and the next section covers that.

How to read the date and mintmark

The date sits on the base of the pedestal on the obverse — exposed and unprotected. From 1916 through 1924, the date wore off faster than any other U.S. coin series because the design left no recessed area to protect it. The U.S. Mint solved the problem in 1925 by recessing the date into the pedestal; coins from 1925 onward (the Type 2b design) hold their dates well.

A dateless pre-1925 Standing Liberty quarter is still a 90% silver coin and still sells at silver content, but no collector premium applies because the buyer cannot confirm the date.

The mintmark sits on the obverse just above and to the left of the date area, on the pedestal base. No mintmark means Philadelphia. D means Denver. S means San Francisco. San Francisco is the source of most of the famous keys — the 1918/7-S overdate, the 1923-S, and the 1927-S all came out of the San Francisco mint.

Two specific traps: a worn date is the most common reason a key-date suspicion turns out wrong (a partial “1927-S” often reads as 1927 only and is actually a 1927 Philadelphia coin worth a fraction of the S-mint), and any suspected overdate or major key belongs in front of PCGS or NGC before sale.

The three Standing Liberty types and what they tell you about the coin

The series ran fifteen years and changed design twice along the way. Knowing which of the three types your coin belongs to tells you the year range, the rough rarity tier, and what to do when the date itself has worn off.

Type 1 (1916 and early 1917): Bare-breast obverse

The original 1916 design shows Liberty with her right breast exposed, no chain mail, and three reverse stars below the eagle. Mintage of the 1916 was just 52,000 — the lowest-mintage U.S. quarter of the twentieth century and the headline rarity of the series. Type 1 also covers early 1917 in all three mints (Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco). Type 1 1917s tend to survive in higher average condition than the Type 2 1917s because they were saved as novelties before the mid-year redesign.

Type 2 (mid-1917 through 1924): Chain-mail obverse, exposed date

Partway through 1917, the design was modified. Chain mail was added across Liberty’s chest and three additional stars were placed below the eagle on the reverse. The chain-mail change is the popular myth — the modesty modification — and the reverse-star change is the technical one most often missed in casual descriptions. Type 2 dates run from mid-1917 through 1924 and cover most of the famous variety dates: the 1918/7-S overdate, the 1921 low-mintage Philadelphia issue, and the 1923-S. The 1917 year is the only year that exists in both Type 1 and Type 2 across all three mints.

Type 2b (1925 through 1930): Chain-mail obverse, recessed date

In 1925 the Mint moved the date into a recessed well on the pedestal so it would wear less. The obverse design is otherwise unchanged from Type 2. Type 2b dates run from 1925 through 1930 and hold their dates well even in heavily circulated condition. The major key of the Type 2b run is the 1927-S at a mintage of 396,000 — small, scarce, and condition-sensitive at Mint State.

Type identification matters most when the date is worn off entirely. A bare-breast Liberty narrows the coin to 1916 or early 1917. A chain-mail Liberty with an exposed date narrows it to mid-1917 through 1924. A chain-mail Liberty with a recessed date narrows it to 1925 through 1930. The chart below sits in those three groups for that reason.

Standing Liberty quarter value chart by year and mintmark

The chart below covers every year of the series — no 1922, no coins struck — grouped by type. Ranges are illustrative retail values at five condition tiers — Good (G-4), Fine (F-12), Extremely Fine (EF-40), Mint State (MS-63), and Mint State Full Head (MS-63 FH) — pulled from PCGS Price Guide and NGC Coin Explorer at the time of writing.

The Full Head column roughly doubles or more from the standard MS-63 line on common dates and adds a significant premium on the keys. Re-quote a live source for current pricing before any sale.

Year / Variety	G-4 Good	F-12 Fine	EF-40	MS-63	MS-63 FH
Type 1 — Bare-breast obverse (1916 and early 1917)
1916	$3,500–5,500	$8,000–12,000	$15,000–25,000	$30,000–50,000	—
1917 Type 1 (P)	$30–45	$45–65	$90–135	$225–325	$425–600
1917 Type 1 D	$50–75	$80–115	$135–195	$300–425	$700–1,000
1917 Type 1 S	$50–75	$80–115	$135–195	$325–450	$1,200–1,800
Type 2 — Chain-mail obverse, exposed date (mid-1917 through 1924)
1917 Type 2 (P)	$25–40	$40–60	$70–105	$200–290	$525–750
1917 Type 2 D	$45–65	$75–105	$140–200	$320–450	$1,400–2,000
1917 Type 2 S	$40–60	$70–100	$135–195	$310–435	$1,800–2,500
1918 (P)	$22–32	$30–45	$60–90	$220–310	$1,000–1,500
1918-D	$45–65	$80–115	$160–225	$425–600	$3,000–4,500
1918-S	$25–35	$40–60	$75–110	$275–390	$8,000–14,000
1918/7-S (overdate)	$2,500–3,500	$8,000–12,000	$22,000–30,000	$60,000–90,000	—
1919 (P)	$50–75	$75–110	$130–185	$310–435	$700–1,000
1919-D	$130–185	$240–340	$525–725	$1,200–1,700	$15,000–22,000
1919-S	$110–155	$210–290	$475–650	$1,100–1,600	$18,000–28,000
1920 (P)	$22–32	$30–45	$60–90	$220–310	$675–950
1920-D	$70–100	$130–185	$260–365	$575–800	$5,500–8,500
1920-S	$25–35	$40–60	$80–115	$285–400	$15,000–22,000
1921	$225–315	$390–550	$800–1,150	$2,100–2,950	$5,500–8,000
1923 (P)	$22–32	$32–48	$65–95	$225–315	$1,800–2,600
1923-S	$425–600	$850–1,200	$1,900–2,700	$4,500–6,500	$8,500–13,000
1924 (P)	$22–32	$30–45	$60–90	$210–295	$725–1,050
1924-D	$80–115	$120–170	$200–285	$425–600	$1,200–1,750
1924-S	$30–45	$55–80	$110–155	$290–410	$5,500–8,500
Type 2b — Chain-mail obverse, recessed date (1925 through 1930)
1925	$8–12	$15–22	$30–45	$200–280	$500–725
1926 (P)	$8–12	$15–22	$30–45	$200–280	$525–750
1926-D	$15–22	$25–38	$55–80	$240–340	$5,500–8,500
1926-S	$10–15	$22–32	$110–155	$525–740	$11,000–16,000
1927 (P)	$8–12	$15–22	$30–45	$200–280	$475–675
1927-D	$22–32	$45–65	$110–155	$370–520	$2,800–4,000
1927-S	$55–80	$240–340	$1,800–2,500	$10,000–15,000	$55,000+
1928 (P)	$8–12	$15–22	$30–45	$200–280	$525–750
1928-D	$10–15	$22–32	$45–65	$235–330	$1,250–1,800
1928-S	$10–15	$22–32	$45–65	$235–330	$750–1,100
1929 (P)	$8–12	$15–22	$30–45	$200–280	$475–675
1929-D	$10–15	$22–32	$45–65	$225–315	$1,150–1,650
1929-S	$10–15	$22–32	$45–65	$225–315	$700–1,000
1930 (P)	$8–12	$15–22	$30–45	$200–280	$475–675
1930-S	$10–15	$22–32	$45–65	$225–315	$725–1,050

Last updated: June 2026. Cross-checked against PCGS Price Guide and NGC Coin Explorer at publication.

Philadelphia struck the series every year except 1922. The Denver Mint struck Standing Liberty quarters in 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, and 1929 — no D-mint in 1921, 1923, or 1930. San Francisco struck the series in 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, and 1930, and is the source of every famous key.

The series ended in 1930 and was replaced by the Washington quarter in 1932 at the bicentennial of George Washington’s birth.

Full Head designation and key dates worth a closer look

The Standing Liberty quarter market is dense with counterfeits and altered coins — especially around the 1916, the 1918/7-S overdate, and the 1927-S in high grade. Any coin you suspect of being a key date, the overdate, or a Full Head Mint State example should be professionally authenticated by PCGS or NGC before sale. Raw key dates routinely sell at half the slabbed price because buyers price in authentication risk.

The list below covers the Full Head designation first (it applies to every date) and then the date-specific keys.

Full Head (FH) designation

A Mint State Standing Liberty quarter is designated Full Head when Liberty’s head shows three distinct olive leaves and her ear is fully defined. The strike was soft on the head detail across most of the series, so Full Head Mint State examples are scarce. Full Head doubles the standard Mint State price on common dates and adds significant premium to keys. PCGS uses FH; NGC uses FH; the two are interchangeable for buyers.

1916

The series key, mintage 52,000 — the lowest-mintage U.S. quarter of the twentieth century. Worth low five figures in Good and well into the five figures at Mint State. Counterfeits and altered 1917 Type 1 coins (with the date reworked to read 1916) are the standard market problem; authentication is non-negotiable.

1918/7-S overdate

An 8 punched over a 7 on a 1918-S coin. Rare and routinely counterfeited; the overdate is visible under magnification on the date. Authenticated examples trade in the low five figures in Good and into the six figures at Full Head Mint State.

1921

Philadelphia-only, mintage 1.916 million. Carries significant premium across all grades; altered dates from 1923 or 1924 coins occasionally surface but are uncommon.

1923-S

Mintage 1.36 million. Trades in the high hundreds in Good and into the four figures at Mint State; one of the harder dates to find with a Full Head.

1927-S

Mintage 396,000 — the major key of the Type 2b series. Trades in the low hundreds in Good and climbs into the five figures at Mint State. The Full Head 1927-S is a condition rarity that sells in the high five figures and above when offered.

1917 Type 1 vs Type 2

All three 1917 mints exist in both types. Type 1 examples generally carry modest premiums over Type 2 at the same grade because Type 1 1917s were produced for a shorter window and tend to survive in higher average grades.

Frequently asked questions