Though the rapid fall in mintage from design to design seems to have slowed dramatically, the U.S. Mint appears to be on track to produce fewer quarters in 2009 than the mintage total for the 1999 Delaware quarter alone.
And it pays to remember that the 2009 quarter mintage is divided among six different designs.
With five designs completed and one to go, 2009 quarter production stands at 563.4 million pieces. The Delaware quarter mintage was 774.82 million coins.
The totals seem even smaller when they are divided between the two mints, Philadelphia and Denver.
So far, the Denver issue of the American Samoa design has the lowest mintage in 2009. It stands at 39.6 million pieces. The next design in the series, which is for the U.S. Virgin Islands, registers somewhat larger individual totals from the two mints of 41 million apiece. That ties them for the honor of second place in the 2009 scarcity rankings.
Only the issue honoring the Northern Mariana Islands remains to be produced. Will either the Denver or Philadelphia quarter with that design displace the Denver American Samoa quarter as the scarcest?
Judging from the trend, it cannot be ruled out, but if it does, it will probably be a squeaker.
