1957 Silver Washington Quarter Type B Reverse PCGS MS64 FS-901 Lustrous Near Gem

1957 Silver Washington Quarter Type B Reverse PCGS MS64 FS-901 Lustrous Near Gem

1957 Washington Quarter, FS-901 (Type "B" Reverse), freshly graded MS64 by PCGS. 

Freshly graded by PCGS as PCGS MS64 with the variety attributed on the holder.

This 1957 Washington Quarter comes out of the only bank wrapped roll I have opened in the last 5 years which contained 2 end of roll tails side showing, deeply toned in rainbow hues coins that were each Type B Reverse (FS-901). Those two end of roll coins tempted me for 2+ years from the day I bought it and finally caved in and eventually found 32 of the 40 coins were Type B Reverse and the other 8 coins, the standard Type A Reverse.

The Type B Reverse was meant for Proof Strikes, and is only found on Philadelphia issues between the dates of 1956-1964. The 1957 ranks in the middle in terms of rarity when it coems to which date is the rarest and which is the most common as far as Type B Reverse Populations go.

The Type "B" Reverse is found on some business strike Washington Quarters between 1956 and 1964. The Type B is the reverse intended for Proof Strikes during this era, and thefore, is only found on Philadelphia issue coins as the Philadelphia mint was where the proofs were struck at that time. The Type "B" Reverse is quite easy to distinguish from the Type "A" reverse by looking for 3 key pickup points:

1. Type A is Low Relief where Type B is High Relief

2. Look at the word STATES on the reverse. The right side serifs of the letter E will not make contact with the left side serifs of the letter S on the Type B Reverse, but on the Type A reverse, the serifs do touch each other.

3. Look at the leaf above the letter A in Quarter Dollar on the reverse. The leaf connecting the vine  to the branch is quite thick and bold compared to the very thin leaf on the Type A. 

If you hold a Type A reverse quarter beside a Type B Reverse quarter, the difference practically jumps out at you.

Recently graded from PCGS with the variety attributed (FS-901).