We have said it before and we will say it again. 2019 was a year that coin collectors, hobbyists, and enthusiasts will be talking about for quite a while. The United States Mint showed up, and we mean really showed up. So get ready for that hyphenated word again because we know it has been worn out but also very fitting for everything we have talked about prior to now: first-ever.
That should be the summary of the Mint’s last year because among the 2019-W Lincoln Cents in three different special finishes, the first Kennedy Half Dollar in an Enhanced Reverse Proof Finish, the first time the Silver Proof Set was struck in all .999 fine silver, and the first-ever limited mintage 2019-S Enhanced Reverse Proof American Silver Eagle, there were 2019-W Quarter Dollars released into circulation with the ‘W’ mintmark. Well, gear up because they have plans for a follow up 2020-W Quarter Dollar release into circulation that will be accompanied by a special privy mark.
With the West Point Mint in West Point, New York, already in the beginning stages of production, all five of this year’s America the Beautiful quarters will be distributed into circulation with a privy mark that will appear on each obverse of the coin. The special mark will be seen in the field in front of, or to the left, of George Washington’s portrait. With plans to be sculpted directly into the master die for production, the privy mark is said to be designed with V75 to represent the 75th Anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
Early strikes of the quarters will be deemed test pieces. The Mint will eventually output 10 million much like last year with 2 million being allotted to each of the five designs. 2020’s reverse designs feature the celebration of the following:
- National Park of American Samoa
- Weir Farm National Historic Site in Connecticut
- Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve in the U.S. Virgin Islands
- Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Vermont
- Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Kansas
2019-W quarters were randomly released in coin bags last year that contained Philadelphia and Denver minted coins. West Point strikes were said to have only made up one percent of the quarter dollar strikes. Those bags were then shipped to Federal Reserve locations to be put into general circulation by banks and financial institutions that were commissioned to participate. This year’s 2020-W quarter dollar is also intended to be mixed with those made in Denver and Philadelphia but it is still unclear as to how circulation is to take place.