Looking through my accumulation of Bi-centennial quarters I found 19 with the same crack in varying degrees of severity. They are at the truncation of the neck just above the date. I found similar marks on both P and D samples. I first thought they may be from coin rolling but there are no other marks to support that. I have photos of some of each mint below. P Mint first.
The base of the neck is the most common place for die cracks to form on the Washington quarter. There were 809 million+ Bicentennial quarters struck in Philly and 860 million+ struck in Denver. How many dies do you think were used to produce all of those coins? Chris
I read your response as saying I have submitted a stupid post because I should have known that. Thanks anyway because I know it now.
Not at all! Note that I did not direct my comment specifically to you, and I closed with a question directed toward anyone who may want to search for the answer. I try to keep in mind that these forums are open to the view of others who may or may not know some of the information provided. With that in mind, it is always beneficial if someone, not necessarily the OP, can add "food for thought" for others, whether they are lurkers or participants. Chris
Thanks Chris, I think I over reacted. I have been collecting for 70 years and have never seen this condition. And, I am here to glean as much information as I can from those with more experience in the subtleties of coin conditions. Thanks again.
My guess is about 7,000; 3,500 for each side. But I believe that the anvil die (the one fixed in place) often lasts longer than the hammer die. And I haven't included the edge die which makes the reeding. My guess is based on a die life number that vaguely sticks in my head from years ago. That number is 250,000. So 860,000,000 ÷ 250,000 = 3,440 (I rounded up to 3,500) For all I know the Mint may have improved die life since then. [Time passes.] A quick search found this: " The average life of a Lincoln cent die is about 1 million coins." If that's a more realistic figure the divide my guesstimate by 4. That would cut the number for each side to a bit lower than 1,000.
Actually, I don't think the die life of a cent & the die life of a quarter would be the same; vastly different amounts of metal, different metal "softness", different coin diameters, for example. Don't know for sure, just a guess...
I saved the specifics about the life of dies (somewhere!) and it does vary based on the denomination of each coin. The lifespan of dies for quarters would be substantially less. Chris
I don't think that would be a factor. I've noticed that most cracks (not all, mind you!) start near some point where the recess of a device meets the field (face of the die). For example, on pennies that would be the lower right or left corner of the Lincoln Memorial. For quarters, it is the base of the neck. Chris
