Over Christmas I found a Hawaii quarter, which is the fiftieth quarter in the State Quarters series from the US Mint. We got home late Thursday and amongst all of the unpacking we punched out the last circle in the map and put Hawaii in.
We looked it over for about 30 seconds, and then my wife asked, “Now what are we going to do with it?” (It was hers; she had been collecting them since before we had met.)
What, indeed?
I've mentioned before that most state quarters found in pocket change aren't really going to hold their value. Unless they're errors or rare varieties, or in very high mint state, they're going to be worth their face value, which, thanks to inflation, purchases less and less as time goes on. (The Delaware quarter has lost almost 25% of its purchasing power already!) Tens of millions of each design were minted. The coins themselves are composed of less than three cents' worth of base metals. You can collect them if you want, but they're not “collectible.”
So, back to my wife's question: What do we do with them? Right now we have $12.50 in quarters with a map, collecting dust, and depreciating. It's not really suitable for framing. It's taking up space and incrementally cluttering our lives. We could:
- Buy a couple of pizzas with the quarters. The pizza place would probably appreciate the quarters for their cash drawer.
- Take the quarters out and start again. Our daughter is almost four, so she's probably a tad young, but it won't be very long (maybe a couple of years) before she can start learning her states. It's a good opportunity to learn some history.
- Pass the map on to someone who can use it as such. Decluttering can be a good thing. We can't save everything. We can't even save most of everything.
- Sell the map. Why not?
The most pragmatic thing to do with the map full of quarters is to not save it. The fun was in the collecting, and now it's over. It's time to spend the quarters. If we really want then back again, it won't take long to find them.
As I am not one who ever had a desire to collect state quarters, doing it over again would just seem tedious to me. I’d probably use or save the coins and give away the map. A quick search on eBay shows me that it probably isn’t worth the hassle of trying to sell it.
And for the record, people will look at you funny if you pay for something with a roll of quarters. 🙂
Sell it on Ebay! Looks like (if you’re not greedy) you could double the quarter value (get maybe 25 bux). Of course, this would probably equate to a break-even status when you account for the cost of the map.
I share your problem. Our sons collected the quarters as well then stopped about 3/4 through as they moved on to girls and cars. I would stack them and save them for a trip to Vegas so I could dramatically one-by-one put them in a quarter slot machine. They must be lucky quarters, right?
a pretty good metaphor for life itself, huh?
eBay might be the way to go, or even craigslist as a cheaper alternative. Definitely one of those now what projects.
Interesting quandary. It kinda makes me glad that we never got around to getting ourselves one of these maps. The eBay angle is interesting. If you can turn a profit, why not? You might even be able to sell the collection of 50 quarters minus the map for a profit — people will buy (and overpay) for just about anything on eBay. If you can pull that off, then you can reuse the map create another collection, and then repeat.
I would go the selling route as well. You’d be surprised how many people will think the quarter collection is going to be worth a lot one day. I think you could easily double your money.
I have to admit, I got a quarter map as a gift for Christmas a few years ago, and threw it away.
I didn’t see a point of storing the map, or holding onto the money.
If I were you, I’d try to sell it for a profit on eBay (as long as you make enough money for shipping and your time). If that doesn’t work, spend away!
Who would want a set of state quarters set in a U.S. map? An elementary school teacher, of course. Sell it on Ebay and make a little profit!
i think that i might sell mine on ebay and see what i can get out of it
Save ’em for your daughter and start over with her, teaching her about our country and its past through the coins.
My word, you have so many angles to work with, the indivdual states, their symbols, why each state used the symbol they did, the presidents, what was going on the particular year the coin was pressed, etc.
C’mon, the information itself must truly be a treasure! If anything, donate it to her class when *they* start to talk about this piece of our history! It’ll make her proud to contribute to her class!