1918/7-S STANDING LIBERTY 25C MS65

GEM LUSTROUS WHITE SURFACES. CLEAR, SHARP OVERDATE. JUST TWO MS66 COINS GRADED HIGHER AT PCGS. This overdate is the result of the demanding conditions that prevailed in the United States Mint during World War One. With the nation's economy in full swing, the Mint was under tremendous pressure to churn out as many new coins as possible. The Engraving Department located in the Philadelphia Mint seems to have overestimated on the number of working dies needed for the production of 1917-dated Type II Standing Liberty Quarters. Rather than throw out all of the leftovers, one of the remaining dies was modified by the recutting of an 8 over the final digit in the date. An S mintmark was then affixed and the die shipped to the West Coast for use in the production of 1918-S Quarters. We do not know exactly how many of the 11 million Quarters struck in the San Francisco Mint during 1918 were impressed from this overdate obverse die. Based on the number of coins extant, the original mintage of the 1918/7-S could not have been all that great. Indeed, survivors are rare in all grades, particularly in Mint State. A paltry number of coins produced certainly has something to do with this, but we believe that the more important culprit is the number of years that elapsed before this overdate was discovered. The first auction appearance of a 1918/7-S Quarter was not until 1937, the intervening years since 1918 sufficing to impart most examples with considerable wear. We also find it likely that many pieces were lost to future generations of numismatists when domestic circulation caused the date to wear away completely, as happened so often with pre-1925 Standing Liberty Quarters. One of the rarest overdates in all of U.S. numismatics, the '18/7-S would serve as a centerpiece in any collection irrespective of grade.