doubled die or machine doubling?

It all depends on what it is and what it is worth. There are some errors and varieties that aren't accepted by the grading services, but even if they were, you have to consider the cost for grading, attribution, shipping and insurance. If it costs you $30-$40 for all of the expenses, it's got to be worth a lot more than that or else you have just wasted your time.

Chris

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Yes, I have seen that on their websites. That is also the reason I am being careful. I don't want to do something wasteful.

 

Great find!

 

Sheila. If you were a coneca member,it would only cost you about ten dollars to have that coin slabbed.I think that would be well worth it.Because I have seen hundreds of die chips on them homestead quarters.But that one is a extreme example.I have never seen one like that.Anyway thanks for sharing your find with us!Have a good day!Sorry about the yelling.

 

I don't get offended that easily. I need to learn what is what. If nobody told me, then I would be making big mistakes. Thank you for your help.

 

Good photographs as well.

 

You are so_much_fun to teach; you're appreciative.

The Homestead Quarter is going to be known by history as one of the more "errored" US issues between the numerous doubled dies and frequent die chipping. The latter is not really a "die variety" or really a value-added proposition, but as billy b said yours is a pretty extreme example.

Lots of different die chips are known, and your coin has most of them.

Keep an eye out for these, going forward. You'll eventually see one that can be identified as an earlier state of your own, with fewer but identical chips. Yours is a fascinating example, whose appeal doesn't really require a slab.

 

Awesome! I was totally shocked when I saw that quarter. All I could think is wow, that is a lot on there! I knew I had to share that one. I have found a few good ones, but that one is great! This is a new hobby for me. I never really had a hobby before and for some reason, out of the blue, I just started looking at coins. All of a sudden, I was fascinated.

 

Yeah, this is one of those fascinating coins that isn't really worth a bunch of money, but all the same deserves attention and an honored place in the collection.

Of course, some collectors are more attracted to such things than others, as I obviously am.

 

Yes, I am fascinated too. I will most certainly put it somewhere special in m my collection. I am proud of this coin!

 

These are die breaks Sheila. A very nice find. There are hundreds of variations out there and some, like yours, are outstanding examples. Keep on the lookout for all the P homestead quarters. It might even be fun to order a roll on Ebay to see what you find. So far I have located 27 varieties of the doubled dies in my roll searching and many rolls yielded a full half roll each of errors. Look inside the bottom set of windows as well as at the pump handle. There are now over 100 doubled dies listed on John Wexler's doubleddie.com site. However, IMHO it is not worth the expense to send these out to be slabbed and at this point no one has cataloged all the variations on these. They are a lot of fun and would be worth the effort to start a specialized collection of these in a blank quarter album to see how many different you can acquire. Somewhere, someone is probably already doing this and it would make for a great conversation point at any coin club gathering once a substantial number of coins were acquired. As was said above, these with the breaks on the roof have been nicknamed "Snow on the roof" variety, and a break at the bottom of the bucket has been named the "Leaky Bucket", as well as the chips in the stalks being called the "Popped Corn" variety". There are no set prices on any of the doubled dies or die breaks. At first some commanded high prices but as more and more were found the prices dropped out. They are fun and you can usually get a couple of dollars each for them on the bay.

 

Thank you for all that information! I have 5 homestead quarters with this, just not like this one. I think I will take your advice and start a book on them. Thank you so much!

 

I should add, that Philadelphia has been and continues to use their dies to the bitter end and quality control seems to be non existant. Also, on these same quarters you might find die cracks at the base of the bust on the obverse, pre die crack depressions over the roof before these die breaks get to the extreme point some of these do. There might also appear to be doubling at the chimney, however this is machine doubling, not a doubled die. There also are some with a chip taken out of the pump fittings and some machine doubling along the sides of the corn stalks, None of this is valuable.

 

OK, great to know. Thank you!

 

When did CONECA start slabbing coins? Do they grade them, too?

Chris

 

Is this clad peeling off or PMD?

 

Here is where you step into one of the next levels of numismatics. Chances are all 5 quarters came from different dies - even at the best estimated die lifetime it still took hundreds of die pairs to strike all the Homestead Quarters - and cracks like this happen in most cases because that particular die design had places where metal flow during the strike creates a spot of greater than normal stress on the die. These areas of varying stress are a known phenomenon in minting; they also have a bearing on how toning propagates on a given coin down the road because they literally alter the surface structural characteristics of the planchet metal in different locations.

Many issues are "famous" for the locations of where they crack. These are design consequences; the dies are not up to the task in that area and fail frequently. So it has happened here with the Homestead Quarter, along with the curious quantity of die doubling - which happened during the creation of the dies - noted for the year.

Your coins will have similarities, and likely minute differences. Your task now is to define those differences, and prove (or disprove) that they're from differing dies. If you have two coins with a chip in the same place, you can sometimes intuit from observation whether the chip on the one has a familial resemblance to the chip on the other, even if one has progressed. Die chips can grow as the die progressively fails, and in a lot of cases you can tell from the similar shapes of remaining contours where the chip has expanded.

Coming up with two coins obviously from the same die pair is a giggle moment.

Of course, a lot of evidence is going to be inconclusive, and you may not be able to draw firm conclusions from the evidence you have. It is the search for these connections - be it to an existing, known variety or a new one you're the first to call out - which motivates those of us who style ourselves as variety seekers. That latter is a neat way to get your 15 minutes of Internet fame.

It's also a way to contribute to the greater body of scholarly knowledge about the issue, in the assistance of some pretty dedicated people - whatever the issue - who are directing their collecting activities into the academic range. It's a substantial demographic of collectors, and the Internet is making it possible.

 

No , if it was a lamination error there would be an area where the metal that peeled off would show by having different heights where the metal came off . This is just surface toning like rust .

 

This group is the most helpful as to "grade worthiness" of all coins and quite a few aren't that look it? Experience counts !

 

Your pictures are great ....