1999 Delaware State Quarter — Spitting Horse

Specifications

Denomination: 25 cents
Series: 50 State Quarters
Designer: William Cousins
Years of issue: 1999
Composition: 91.67% Copper, 8.33% Nickel
Weight: 5.67 g
Diameter: 24.26 mm
Edge: Reeded
KM: 293
Key mintages: Philadelphia: 373,400,000; Denver: 401,424,000; San Francisco: 3,713,359 (onlinecoin.club); 774,824,000 total across all mints (ereferencedesk.com).

Melt value: $0.07copper $0.44/ozt · prices as of Sep 16, 2026

Image by Dbenbenn, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

A raised die crack from the horse's mouth marks the 'Spitting Horse' variety — worth a small premium over ordinary 1999 Delaware quarters.

History

The Delaware quarter kicked off the 50 State Quarters program with its release in January 1999. Designed by William Cousins, the reverse depicts Caesar Rodney's historic 80-mile horseback ride to Philadelphia on July 1, 1776, to cast Delaware's deciding vote for independence; Delaware, the first state to ratify the Constitution on December 7, 1787, is inscribed THE FIRST STATE (allnumis.com; ereferencedesk.com).
The 'Spitting Horse' is a die break on some 1999 Delaware quarters: a crack formed in the die near the horse's mouth, and when coins were struck, metal filled that crack and left a raised line that looks like the horse is spitting. This line is part of the strike itself — not a scratch or damage (coin-identifier.com).

Ordinary circulated 1999 Delaware quarters are face value to a few dollars depending on condition (washington-quarters.com). The Spitting Horse carries a modest premium driven by the boldness of the crack and the coin's condition; a superb uncirculated example was appraised at $5–$20 resale, with certified high-grade examples bringing more (justanswer.com; coin-identifier.com).
Circulated regular-issue 1999-D Delaware quarters typically trade between face value and about $3.50 by grade, so the variety premium is the only reason a worn example beats face value (washington-quarters.com).

Bold, late-die-state cracks with a thick raised line command the premium; faint early-state hairlines are worth less (coin-identifier.com).
Examples are most often 1999-P; check the mint mark on the obverse, and note that ordinary 1999-P and 1999-D quarters without the crack are face value in circulated grades (eBay listings; onlinecoin.club).

Diagnostics: look at the reverse, at the horse's mouth and jaw, for a raised line projecting forward. On early die wear the line is thin; on later strikes it is thicker. It is always raised, never cut into the surface (coin-identifier.com).
The crack is raised, not incised — run a fingernail across it; a scratch is cut into the surface, while the genuine die crack stands proud of the field (coin-identifier.com).
1999-P Delaware — 'Spitting Horse' die crack variety (coin-identifier.com)

Composition: Copper-nickel clad copper (onlinecoin.club)
Weight: 5.67 g (allnumis.com)
Diameter: 24.26 mm (allnumis.com)
Edge: Reeded (onlinecoin.club describes the edge as milled)
Alignment: Coin alignment (numisquare.com)
Designers: William Cousins (reverse); John Flanagan, modified by William Cousins (obverse) (allnumis.com; onlinecoin.club)
Mint: Philadelphia (P), Denver (D), San Francisco (S) (onlinecoin.club)