How Much Is a Gold Plated Quarter Worth?

Unfortunately, gold-plated quarters are novelty items that have virtually no added value. They are worth their face value of 25 cents, and that's it.

Gold-plated quarters have nonetheless become a staple of coin shops in the United States over the last 20 years. Below we'll explore some alternatives that are actually valuable.

So-called "gold quarters" are plated in a thin layer of 24-karat gold.

The Difference Between Gold Coins and Gold-Plated Coins

Gold coins are made of solid gold. This means the metal alloy that makes up the coin contains gold throughout. By contrast, gold plating is only on the outer-most layer of the coin, and does not affect the metals inside of the coin. Beyond this difference, genuine gold coins are typically made from a high purity of 90% pure gold or higher.

Why Gold-Plated Quarters Are Worthless

Even though the gold plating on these coins is 24 karats (99.9% pure), the layer is ultra thin. It's so thin and miniscule that the metal value of the gold is negligible or virtually worthless. The gold plating can actually rub off of the coin quite easily, destroying its aesthetic value.

The explosion of gold-plated quarters really began with the 50 State Quarters Program introduced by the U.S. Mint in 1999. To be clear, these were regular quarters when they left the mint. Some coin dealers started plating the new quarters in gold after the fact, and the practice caught on all over the country.

At the time, the State Quarters were immensely popular with collectors. They are still the most successful collecting program ever issued by the United States Mint, in fact. The introduction of gold plating on the secondary market was seen as a way to spruce up a popular product.

To put it bluntly, gold-plated quarters are a novelty, a gimmick—yet they have no doubt fooled countless new collectors into believing the coin is worth far more than it actually is. Suffice it to say these novelty items are not a good investment.

Pure Gold Quarters That Are Valuable

It can be disappointing for coin collectors to find out their gold-plated quarters aren't worth anything. Fortunately there are some alternatives to the so-called gold quarters that are much more valuable:

Gold Standing Liberty Quarter Commemorative

The best example of a genuine gold quarter is the Standing Liberty commemorative coin. It was released in 2016 as a one-year commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the original Standing Liberty quarter, which made its debut in 1916. This design is still revered among coin collectors and has not been used on coins since 1931.

Each of these gold quarters contains 1/4 oz of gold, an apropos choice by the mint. It also is struck from .9999 fine gold, meaning they are 99.99% pure gold. Perhaps most intriguing, only 125,000 of these coins were minted. This makes them even more attractive to coin collectors. At the time of writing, they tend to sell for more than $800 per coin.

Golden-Colored Sacagawea Quarter Mule

A mule is a coin that mistakenly pairs the obverse design of one coin with the reverse design of a different coin. This is always the result of an error made at the mint.

In this case, a famous mule coin resulted in the front side of a Washington quarter being struck with the back side of a Sacagawea dollar coin. Both denominations are similar in size. The planchet (blank disc) of the Sacagawea dollar was used, so the mule coin ended up with an attractive golden colored appearance.

Only about 20 examples of this mule are extant. If you ever happen to come across one, they may be worth tens of thousands of dollars!

90% Gold Indian Head Penny

This isn't technically a quarter, but it is gold (when it shouldn't be!). The backstory alone makes the coin worth including here.

During the late 19th century and early 20th century, staff members at the U.S. Mint would occasionally create odd error coins (allegedly on purpose) that wealthy collectors would then pay handsomely for. Although this practice was obviously unethical and was officially condemned by mint officials, there is no doubt that it happened from time to time.

Probably the best-known instance of this is the gold Indian Head penny. Using a blank intended for the $2.50 gold piece, the Indian Head design from the one-cent coin was "mistakenly" struck in 90% gold. Again, although it cannot definitively be proven, the consensus allegation made by numismatic historians is that these exotic coins were deliberately made at the behest of wealthy benefactors who purchased the coins "under the table."

In total, five examples of these gold penny "errors" are known to exist. Three of them are dated 1900, one is dated 1905, and one is dated 1906. There is a case to be made that the 1905 and 1906 examples were genuine errors, but the others almost certainly were not. What are the odds that a mint employee accidentally fed a gold coin planchet into the penny press without noticing? Moreover, these coins made it out of the mint and into private hands rather than being melted down when quality control would have no doubt noticed them.

You can learn more about these eye-appealing oddities by reading the description listed on the Heritage Auctions website.

Tips for Buying Gold Coins

Here are some additional suggestions when you decide to buy gold coins:

Read more about the value of different coins from the experts at Gainesville Coins:

1967 Quarter Value: Key Date Washington Quarter

1919 Lincoln Wheat Penny Value

What Is a Silver Nickel Worth? (More Than You'd Expect!)

Surprising Value of 2009 Lincoln Penny Bicentennial Cents

1921 Morgan and Peace Silver Dollar Values (Price Charts)