Worst Fonzie jacket illustration ever but you get the idea.
This Anna Mae Wong coin got me thinking. When did the collectible quarter idea the stupid button? I was excited back in 1999 when the 50 state quarters were announced. I have unbroken rolls of Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and a few others. I have a cardboard portfolio with cutouts for all the states. Family members gifted me colored versions of state quarters. I was a total quarter dork for about 10 years. I'm still a numismatist but I lost all interest in sandwich quarters when the US Mint announced they were piggybacking the state quarter program with a National Parks/State Parks/Beautiful Places. Now they're honoring women. Seems like the Fed's only idea for pulling currency out of circulation is to commission increasingly nuanced dies at the press and hope people stash them away.
To answer my own question in the thread title, collectible quarters jumped the shark in 2009. The Mint should have stopped after the 50 states rollout and let the idea rest for a decade before launching the next set. Rarity and exclusivity drives collectability. I don't know anyone excited to find an uncirculated Tuskeegee Airmen on Ebay for just 99 cents. You know anyone stashing Jovita Idar quarters?
