David Hall:
The 1942 was the first Washington quarter to have a mintage of over 100,000,000 coins. Perhaps this dampened the enthusiasm of dealers and collectors of the era to save this coin as the 1942 is actually a bit of a sleeper in Gem condition. And I remember back in the "BU roll" days of the 1960s and 1970s that this wasn't exactly an easy uncirculated roll to find. This coin is scarcer in Gem condition than most of the other Washington quarter issues of this time period. But when found, Gem examples can be fully lustrous and quite nice.