This 1999 Georgia quarter is worth over $7,000 - do you have a fortune sitting in your change jar?

Experts are urging Americans to check their small change to see if they might unknowingly have a fortune languishing in their wallet. 

One Georgia state quarter has been estimated to be worth over $7,000 due to a particular production error.

The rare coin was minted in 1999, when the US Treasury began the state quarters program. 

At the time, it was also working on a new gold-tinted alloy for coins, which was eventually used for the Sacagawea or 'golden' dollar which came out in 2000.

'Curious how the alloy would look on quarters, a bunch of Georgia state ones were minted using it,' said the US Coins Guide. '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.'

The rare coin was minted in 1999 when the Treasury was experimenting with a gold-tinted alloy

One coin sold for $7,200, according to a listing by rare coin auctioneer Heritage Auctions

HOW TO SPOT A RARE 1999 GEORGIA QUARTER 

Here are some signs that you might have a rare quarter:

• 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)

In January 2020, one such coin sold for $7,200, according to a listing by rare coin auctioneer Heritage Auctions. 

As well as its gold-tinted hue, there are various other tell-tale signs that a Georgia quarter might be rare and valuable. 

If the coin weighs between 5.9 and 6.3 grams, instead of the typical 5.67 grams for a copper-nickel clad quarter, it could be worth more than 25 cents. 

If it appears thicker than normal, lacks some or all of the ridges on the edge, or has a thicker rim than normal, it could be worth getting checked out. 

If you think you might have discovered one of these coins, show it to a reputable dealer or get it certified by a coin grading company. 

The 1999 Georgia quarter is just one of various valuable coins which can make a mint when sold at auction. 

Last month coin expert Ian Russell revealed the most valuable pieces he has ever sold at auction, including a $12million silver dollar and a set of Lincoln pennies which fetched $7.7 million.

Russell, president of California-based auction site GreatCollections, developed an interest in rare currencies in his teens and now typically sells up to 5,000 coins a week.

Yet even he says he was most astonished by the Lincoln set sale which was auctioned by the estate of coin enthusiast Stewart Blay after his death, aged 77.

Prior to the bid, a single Lincoln Cent had never broken the million-dollar sale mark.

But Russell said it was not rare for some types of coins to sell for over $1 million in the current market.

Last year, his auction house sold what was thought to be the first ever silver dollar to be struck by the United States mint for a whopping $12 million.

And in 2021 GreatCollections bought three coins for a record-breaking $13.35 million.

Ian Russell, president of California-based coin auction house GreatCollections, has revealed the coins most likely to fetch the biggest sums

A collection of Lincoln cents, pictured, sold for $7.7 million in a record-breaking auction overseen by GreatCollections 

It comes after a California realtor made a remarkable discovery of one million pennies while cleaning out his late father-in-law's former home in Los Angeles.

John Reyes and his wife Elizabeth found the pennies in a crawlspace in the basement of her late father Fritz's home in the Pico-Union neighborhood of the city last year.

After struggling to find a bank willing to exchange them for cash, he was urged by one manager to look into whether he had a stash of rare pennies worth more than their dollar value.

Reyes has now listed the coins on OfferUp, a popular resale app and website, asking for $25,000 - more than double the $10,000 value in normal currency. 

'Someone can buy them and they can go penny hunting,' he told DailyMail.com.

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