I recently came upon a Colorado state quarter from 2006 . . . and I noticed that it did not have any visible copper in the "cross-section." I thought all of the quarters since 1965 were "copper clad" and when you turn them sideways and looked at the reeded edge, I always rmember seeing the copper streak (we used to call them copper sandwiches). When did they change the quarters to eliminate the copper from showing in the reeded edge? Thanks!
all the quarters have different amount of copper showing, i just got a 2010 yellowstone quarter and it only had a little bit of copper on the rim, so its always different
Or, the quarter could be silver plated. The hucksters on HSN and Coin Country have sold a ton of those to the general public. Gotum pic Kimosabe?
So I am gathering that this is not some recent change after all. Believe me, there is not so much as a speck or trace of copper showing anywhere. I should add that this is from the Philadelphia mint and is clearly not a proof coin anyway, so I am sure it isn't silver. Maybe this is a phoney-nbaloney "platimum-plated" state quarter from one of those jokers like on the home shopping channels(?). But in that case, I guess I would have expected the reeded edge to be "shallower" from the plating between the "teeth" of the reeded edge, whereas if anything, the teeth on the reeded edge of this coin are more pronounced that normal. Also, after my forst post, I looked around and couldn't find any more recent quarters, but I found one from 2003 with the copper clad I expected to see, and if you compare this quarter to that one, this one seems to be noticeably lighter in weight. I am starting to think this is just some kind of alteration or forgery that fooled me into thinking they changed the quarters without me ever noticing. Still not sure how they made it weigh less though. Anyway, any thoughts are appreciated.
It would help if you could send a picture Virginian. We need to look at the edge as well as the obverse and reverse of the coin. Bruce
Well, if it's a proof, it'd have an S mintmark, not a P. So it's not a proof, it's just probably not showing much of the copper layer. I've seen quarters like that.
Weight and see if it matches the copper qrtrs. Get a flat stick or emery board(wel worn, of course) and a AAA battery. Take two look alike qrtrs. and balance them. Mark the place where the battery was and glue it. Rebalance the qrtrs. to make sure. Now try different qrtrs. and then try this subject of this post one. If it is heavier by what seems like a lot, maybe it is silver. How about doing the drop test gently and listen for the sound it makes. Do you have any other silver qrtrs.?
While you don't find them every day it is not uncommon to find clad coins where there is no copper showing on the edge. This has been true for as long as the clads have been made. What happens is quite simple. When the planchets are punched out of the strip a thin portion of the outer clad layer is sometimes pushed down over the edge covering up the copper center. That's all there is to it.
