2016-08-09 Tue

On 1st August it was announced by the U.S. Mint that the sale of 2016-W Standing Liberty gold quarter dollars will begin from September 8th. The mintage limit and the restriction on number of coins per household is not yet been revealed. The West Point Mint has been producing these coins from 13th May onwards. The rates would be based on the official pricing grid. Depending on the rising spot gold price, the price of the gold quarter is also going to increase.

The Standing Liberty gold quarter dollar was first struck in 1916 using .900 fine gold. The 2016 coin is a .9999 fine version of the 1916 coin which was originally designed by sculptor Hermon A. MacNeil. The obverse featured the 100 year old Bare Breast subtype. The original design was changed and a chain mail was added to cover Liberty’s right breast.

The planchets were received from Leach Garner with a proto-rim that’s raised out. Then the planchets are treated for five to ten minutes in the Spaleck burnishing equipment and struck with circulation strike finish. The coins are then dipped in a proprietary mixture of soap, water and a mild surfactant in a tub with steel media. Finally the burnished planchets are placed on trays, with the edges facing upwards. The planchets are manually placed one by one in a coin chamber using tongs.

The planchets are struck twice on a Gräbener GMP 360 coin press to produce a high relief with obverse as the upper die, and the reverse as the lower die. The edge die imparts a standard wide reed. The struck coins are checked for defects using the naked eyes under the magnifying glass and sent for packaging.

Unlike the 1916 version which was 24.3 millimeters in diameter, the 2016-W gold version is 22 millimeters. The gold version is 1.63 millimeters thick, a bit thicker than the silver coin.

On the gold coin’s obverse features an identification which states the coin’s weight and precious metal content as AU 24K / 1/4 OZ.