These San Francisco quarters are notorious for their tepid strikes that usually lack considerably more die definition than seen here on the surviving coins. The mintage of 2,860,000 pieces may seem adequate for the time, but given the paucity of Full Head examples combined with the Gem grade level, there simply are not enough for collectors who desire an example. Hence prices must adjust to reflect the demand.

The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in the January 2011 Tampa Bay Auction, where it realized $16,675.