Check your pockets: This 1999 Georgia quarter could get you $10,000

ATLANTA — The next time you get change back you may want to pay close attention to what you’re being handed.

In 1999, the U.S. Treasury started minting quarters with themes from each state.

Many people started collecting them at the time, and Yahoo! Finance says several of those Georgia-themed quarters were minted with several types of errors.

“Errors increase the value of collectibles because a limited number go into circulation before the error is spotted and corrected,” Yahoo! Finance said.

Those errors could mean that you have a quarter worth $10,000.

One of the errors has to do with a new alloy that the Treasury was testing out. It has a gold tint to it and was eventually used for the Sacagawea $1 coins.

“Curious how the alloy would look on quarters, a bunch of Georgia state ones were minted using it,” the U.S. Coins Guide said in a blog. “The Treasury decided not to go with the alloy on quarters, but the ones minted with it were still released and are now very much desired by collectors.”

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Yahoo said there are several ways that you can tell if you have one of the experimental 1999 Georgia quarters:

• Weighs between 5.9 and 6.3 grams on a coin scale, which is more than the 5.67 grams for a typical copper-nickel-clad quarter
• Appears thicker than normal
• Has a golden or greenish color, similar to Sacagawea dollars
• Lacks the copper (orange-colored) stripe on the edge of the coin
• Lacks some or all of the edge reeding (e.g. ridges)
• Has a thicker rim than normal (a coin’s rim refers to the raised ridge encircling the circumference of the obverse and reverse of a coin, according to Professional Coin Grading Services)

If you think you have one of these rare quarters, Yahoo! Finance says the last thing you should do is spend it. You may, however, want to sell. Yahoo said the easiest way to get your money’s worth for the quarters is to list it on eBay.

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