I have a 1982 quarter that has been shrunk, mostly in thickness but in width as well. It's as thin as a dime. It's about 3/32 of an inch smaller in diameter than others Washington quarters. There is copper showing through the flatter surfaces. Here's what really got me...the grooves are still evident all around the edge. I have no scale to weigh it and no camera.
Maybe you have a friend with a camera? I picture is really necessary in order to make any type of judgement about your quarter...
There is a machine which has the ability to physically shrink the size of coins. It's been around for years and is fairly well known. Could be you have one of those shrunken coins.
The machine that Doug is speaking of is known as a spark erosion machine and uses high voltage to redistribute the metal molecules which results in the coins being shrunken. There was a seller on eBay that was selling these about 6-7 years ago, even stuff like Indian cents etc. The coins were then selling for about $10 each as novelties.
There are some threads here that address these shrunken coins. Just do a keyword search in the CT search box located in the toolbar above to dig them up. Here's some info on mini coins from another thread: Mini Coin Set
Never new that, I wonder what someone at the store would do if you gave them one of these? it would be fun to try LOL. Bob
Here is a do it your self very dangerous coin shrinking project on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsDMnRfhICM
You can read all about the process Doug and scottishmoney referred to at Bert Hickman's site, but the from the OP's description: I don't think his coin was created by this shrinking method:
There was an article within the past year about this in one of the Numismatic publications. I never knew about this phenomenon until I read this article. It is a really interesting process. If I remember correctly, the guy who the article was written about is still doing this and I believe takes custom orders, but my memory is kinda fuzzy on this.
Good point. But he also says - " It's about 3/32 of an inch smaller in diameter than others Washington quarters." And I can't think of anything else that could cause that other than the "shrinking coin" thing. I suppose it could be an off planchet error of some kind, but danged if I know what given the date it is.
I'm betting what he has is a coin that has had a LONG soak in a weak acid such as vinegar. Wheelgun, is the copper layer on the edge recessed in from the edge of the outer coppernickel layers?
Nope, however, the coin faces are shrunken much more at the outer area than at the center. The thickness of the coin has been shrunk uniformly. I wish I had a digital camera with macro and knew how to post the pictures. Someday I'll find someone who can help me with this.
.....the store would probably take it in a heartbeat and never blink. but try that with a prez buck and they would call the FBI!!
