Gary's Type Set
25C WASHINGTON, CLAD (1965-1998)

Owner Comments:

The Washington Quarter entered circulation during the Great Depression intended as a single year commemorative memorializing the 200th anniversary of George Washington’s birth in 1732. Instantly popular with the public, the Washington Quarter replaced the Standing Liberty Quarter in 1932, and except for 1933, continues to this day. The obverse of this 1984-P, MS-67 Washington Quarter features a bust of George Washington modeled after a famous sculpture by French sculptor Jean Antoine Houdon, and the reverse a heraldic eagle perched on a bundle of arrows over an olive branch wreath. George Washington is often referred to as one of our nation’s “founding fathers” because of his central role in forming our nation. Appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in 1775 by the Continental Congress, George Washington led the colonies to victory during the Revolutionary war. A humble man, George Washington resigned his commission as commander-in-chief in 1783 to retire to his beloved Mount Vernon estate in Virginia. Soon afterwards, he became a delegate to the constitutional convention in Philadelphia and in 1789 the Electoral College unanimously named him President of the United States. As our nation’s first president, George Washington defined the office of the presidency, establishing precedents still in existence today. Desiring not to have the office of president of the United States resemble a monarchy, George Washington reluctantly served a second term as president and refused a third. When John Adams peacefully succeeded George Washington as president, our fledgling democracy demonstrated to the world the genius of a nation premised on self-governance. After serving as President of the United States, George Washington retired to Mount Vernon where he died at the age of 67 on December 14, 1799. Henry Lee, governor of Virginia eulogized that George Washington was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen". This 1984 Washington Quarter also corresponds to the birth year of my daughter.