Never seen this before. Is this environmental or some type of mint error . Thanks and sorry for dumb questions.
It's possible that it could be missing both clad layers. Have you weighed it? A normal state quarter with both clad layers should weigh 5.67 grams. Chris
If your coin is, in fact, missing both clad layers, a coin without the clad layers would weigh about the same as yours. (This is about the best answer I can give you because I don't have one at hand to weigh.) Chris
[h=2]I need to weigh it when I get back to the house where I have the coin and my scale. I just searched missing clad layer and here is an article I thought was interesting. Sounds like typically 4.7 Grams for one layer of clad missing. However, there is a rarer instance where the weight doesn't change. Here is the link to the article. http://www.coinworld.com/articles/missing-clad-layer-does-not-always-imply-miss/ Missing clad layer does not always imply missing weight[/h]By Mike Diamond-Special to Coin World | May 19, 2012 9:58 a.m. Article first published in 2012-05-28, Expert Advice section of Coin World
So if this coin is missing both clad layers, it is obviously a mint error. Is it a valuable one? I haven't heard much about it (short of my brief search in which the article I posted above came from) and haven't personally seen one until I got this one with my change at the gas station Sunday.
This coin, or any coin for that matter, is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Your coin has seen some circulation which would lower the grade. A coin missing both layers is obviously a little rarer than one missing just one layer, but both are considered errors. Here is my 2001-D Kennedy missing the reverse clad layer. There are only two known for this date/mm to exist, and the other one sold uncertified on eBay for $555 in 2005. Chris
Looks dug to me. EDIT: Regarding the weight, there's a tolerance of a certain amount either way for planchets. I would imagine any weight missing due to no nickel clad layers would still fall in this range.
i just took this photo real quick i found this metal detecting, i think they look similar. and the color on your reverse reminds me of a toned morgan in a bag with another coin laying on top of it. i think it was found metal detecting with another coin on top of it