1946 Washington Quarter

The 1946 Philadelphia quarter is the first postwar issue of the series, struck after the Japanese surrender of September 1945 returned the U.S. economy toward civilian production. Philadelphia struck 53,436,000 pieces, roughly a 28 percent drop from the 1945 total of 74.3 million and a clearer signal that wartime cash demand had eased substantially. Composition remained 90% silver and 10% copper, a 6.25-gram blank yielding .1808 ounces of actual silver weight, the same standard the quarter denomination carried throughout the war. The five-cent piece reverted from the wartime silver alloy back to its 75 percent copper, 25 percent nickel formula starting January 1, 1946, so collectors building parallel denomination sets often treat the 1946 quarter as the first true peacetime silver entry of the postwar run.

Strike quality on the coin improves over the wartime norm, though the typical example still shows the modest softness on Washington's hair above the ear and on the eagle's breast feathers that characterized the previous five years. Original-skin pieces with full luster and crisp central detail trade at meaningful premiums over scrubbed examples in the same numerical grade. John Flanagan's JF initials at the truncation of Washington's neck appear on every legitimate piece and serve as a quick die-marker check during authentication. Counterfeit pressure on the regular date is minimal, but the Philadelphia 1946 sometimes serves as a donor coin for added-mintmark fakes purporting to be 1946-D or 1946-S, the latter being the lower-mintage of the three issues at just over four million pieces. Any raw 1946 with a reverse mintmark deserves authentication from PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, or NGC, the Numismatic Guaranty Company. No major DDO has been catalogued at the FS-101 level for the 1946 Philadelphia issue.

The coin is a common date today, set-fillable in circulated grades for modest premiums over silver melt and obtainable in Mint State through MS65 without effort. Above MS66 the population thins; original-skin gems with full strike and luster earn registry-set premiums. Year-set builders, type collectors, and short-set builders make up most of the buyer base. For the broader story of John Flanagan's design and the series' production arc, see the Washington Quarter series history.