There’s a Minnesota quarter error out there that’s worth a lot of money.
The Minnesota Extra Tree state quarter error is floating around in pocket change, and if you look hard enough you may just find one!
So… where is the extra tree on the Minnesota quarter? And how much is this error coin worth?
How To Find The Minnesota Extra Tree Quarter Error
Relatively few of the 50 State Quarters contain any real errors or monumental varieties.
But a couple actually made the news headlines when they were first discovered — like the 2004 Wisconsin quarter with extra leaf, and the one we’re going to talk about today: the 2005 Minnesota quarter with extra tree.
What’s up with the extra foliage on rare state quarters?!…
Many people wonder if the 2004-D Wisconsin quarters with extra high leaves and extra low leaves were intentionally created by a U.S. Mint employee in Denver.
But the 2005 Minnesota quarters with an extra tree appear to have been caused by inadvertent die doubling at the Philadelphia Mint — with fascinating results!
This video provides a glimpse of the 2005 Minnesota Extra Tree quarter and some of the details that you should be looking for:
What’s The 2005 Minnesota Quarter Error Worth?
The 2005-P Minnesota quarter with extra tree is one of the most famous and valuable quarters from the popular state quarters program issued by the United States Mint from 1999 through 2008.
There are actually many different versions of the 2005-P Minnesota quarter doubled die. Yep, there are at least 50 different types of errors, varieties, and other unusual anomalies involving the 2005 Minnesota quarters from the Philadelphia and Denver mints.
The value of a Minnesota state quarter error varies, based on the strength and degree of doubling of the extra tree:
- Those with the strongest doubling generally sell for $100 or more.
- Some of the best-preserved uncirculated examples are fetching nearly $1,000.
Needless to say, it’s worth checking your pocket change for any of the rare and valuable Minnesota state quarter errors!
All 2005 Minnesota Quarter Errors
Without a doubt, there are enough Minnesota quarter errors and varieties to keep you busy checking your change for many years to come.
Several of these error varieties involve various forms of the Minnesota quarter extra tree error. These have been well documented by coin experts — including Ken Potter and John Wexler, who labored over attributing many of these quarter errors and have listed them all on their websites.
The most helpful guides (with photos!) showing the many 2005 Minnesota quarter errors are:
- Ken Potter’s Guide To 2005 Minnesota Quarter Errors & Varieties
- John Wexler’s Directory Of 2005 Minnesota Quarter Doubled Dies
Tips For Finding A 2005 Minnesota Quarter Error
Don’t think finding a 2005 Minnesota quarter error is going to be easy. They wouldn’t be rare and valuable if they were easy to find!
While you probably won’t strike it rich with the first Minnesota quarter you find after reading this, there are many ways to improve your odds of finding a valuable Minnesota quarter.
Here are some expert tips for finding the rare Minnesota quarter errors and other valuable coins:
- Check your pocket change. This is probably the most convenient method for finding rare and valuable coins, because all you need to do is dive into your loose change to start hunting for state quarter errors. Of course, the downside to doing this is you’re pretty much limited to looking through only the coins you come into contact with during cash transactions and such. (“But there must be a better way…” Yes there is! Read on…)
- Go through rolls of coins from your local bank. Many collectors search through bank rolls of coins to increase their odds of finding error coins, old coins, and other interesting items. The benefit of looking through rolls of coins from the bank is that you can search many coins all at once. Also, rolls of coins are generally obtainable for the face value of the coins within. So, if you want to look through rolls of quarters for the 2005 Minnesota quarter error, you need to pay just $10 for the roll, which is the face value of the 40 quarters that come in a standard quarter roll. Keep the ones you like and spend the rest!
- Cherrypick 2005 U.S. Mint uncirculated sets. It’s possible you could find some of the 2005 Minnesota quarter errors by searching through 2005 uncirculated mint sets. An official modern US Mint uncirculated set contains one coin from each of the U.S. Mint facilities producing circulating coinage. In the case of the 2005 mint set, you’ll find (among other 2005 coinage) 2 Minnesota quarters — 1 each from the Philadelphia Mint and the Denver Mint.
Other Valuable Quarters
In addition to the valuable Minnesota quarter error mentioned above, here are some of our other articles about valuable quarters:
- Tips For Assembling A Complete Set Of 50 State Quarters
- Most Valuable Quarters: A List Of Rare Quarters You Should Hang On To
- Here’s Why Modern Coins Are The Hottest Things In Coin Collecting
- 8 Circulated Clad Washington Quarters Worth More Than Face Value
- 25 Rare Quarters You’ll Want For Your Collection
I’m the Coin Editor here at TheFunTimesGuide. My love for coins began when I was 11 years old. I primarily collect and study U.S. coins produced during the 20th century. I’m a member of the American Numismatic Association (ANA) and the Numismatic Literary Guild (NLG) and have won multiple awards from the NLG for my work as a coin journalist. I’m also the editor at the Florida United Numismatists Club (FUN Topics magazine), and author of Images of America: The United States Mint in Philadelphia (a book that explores the colorful history of the Philadelphia Mint). I’ve contributed hundreds of articles for various coin publications including COINage, The Numismatist, Numismatic News, Coin Dealer Newsletter, Coin Values, and CoinWeek. I’ve authored nearly 1,000 articles here at The Fun Times Guide to Coins (many of them with over 50K shares), and I welcome your coin questions in the comments below!
