05' D Oregon quarter shattered die???

I'b betting on the elbow macaronni , heck if this is a struck thru area a piece of about anything could have been the culprit

 

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Ok after doing more research and contemplating, and before we hear from Jody, I think I've got it figured out (famous last words right). The reverse die is mostly used as the anvil die correct? It is locked in and has nowhere to expand except up if a foriegn object comes into contact. Something hard was already imbedded in the die when this coin was struck. Given the pressure form the object was forced downward into the anvil die and it retained it. It then naturaly found the weekest areas to push up. That would be right along the tree trunk, look close, there might be a die crack traveling up the top half. Hard to tell from the pics but that would explain the shattered look around the branches and top. It is also possible that there was already a coin or two struck before this one given the anomalies on the obverse.

I haven't heard form Jody yet so I figured I'd throw it out there befor we do. This is the only thing that is in the realm of probablilty in my mind.

This coin was struck through debris with shattered die.

 

none of what you said makes any sense at all except where you said struck thru debris . if not glue as you have confirmed it is not then I would say it was struck thru a thick layer of the graphite grease the mint uses with metal dust mixed into it. I have found many state quarters in new rolls of coins that still had a thick layer of the black graphite on them. when the dried graphite is removed it leaves a shallow imprint of where it was removed from. this makes the edges of the imprint area to have raised lines on the coins. this is common and more than likely is what is wrong with your coin , the die was not shattered IMO. the area at 3 o'clock if it is incuse then it is a struck thru area from a small metal fragment.

 

That sounds plausable... However that doesn't justfy the two fine hairline fractures that line up perfectly with the corners of the impact mark at 3:00. Unless the graphite grease did it, but it's too deep and clean for that. Not to mention the edges are very crisp and lines fairly straight throughout the damaged area's.

I believe these two annomilies are related, not seperate coincidences on the same coin.

 

the two hairline fractures you mentioned are probably where some more of the mint grease was removed and just imitate die cracks.. I agree with you it looks like this was all caused by one thing. I can see that some of the mint grease or whatever did this still remains in the top part of the tree and to the right of the tree top. I would have told you this sooner but I thought for sure it was dried glue.

 

How about a retained lamination, on the die, from a previous strike?

If it's the anvil die, gravity will not remove the debris.

I'm thinking if it were grease, the tree would not be there in such detail.

 

playpossum the struck thru mint grease scenaro that I mentioned was my second thought after the dried glue thought. I'm beginning to think the struck thru grease idea may not be possible because it looks like some of the debris is raised above the surface of the coin. if this is the case then whatever this is was put on the coin after it left the mint , anything struck thru with a coin die would be flush with the coin's surface.

looks like we will have to wait to see what Jody says this is , when he has the coin in hand it should be easy to see what this is.

 

It got delivered friday. He's probably busy this weekend.

 

Well verdict is in.... Someone shoud have taken my bet. It was glue or something like it! Confirmed with Jody....I now know what a real good glue job looks like! From now on I'm washing every coin I get in acetone before I even look at it!

I'm getting out the old "Red Ryder" and goin crow hunting....it's what's for dinner!
I will then go iron my hands!

 

Bummer...sorry it wasn't something more exciting. Oh well, a good learning experience.

 

But those hands are going to problematic ...

 

Hey don't eat too much of dat crow. I would have taken your bet but I didn't want to rob you . always remember when something foreign looking is on a coin and raised above the surface it was put there after leaving the mint.next time use something tiny and sharp or finger nail polish remover and see if it is coin metal or glue. don't feel bad I still get tricked for a few minutes myself by dried stuff on coins.

 

Thanks for taking it easy on me...Id'a paid! Even Jody thought it looked incuse through the loup. I've seen quite a few with glue etc and it's obvious as heck. I tried dipping it in laquer thinner, because it was the strongest stuff I had, blasted it with my water pick, and even tried to pick at it with my fingernail but nothing changed. I never want to "clean" a coin, so I was just being carefull just in case.

Old dog....new trick!

 

We're all about education here. Sometimes we learn best when we think we are nearly 100% sure it is something, and it turns out to be something completely different! Best of luck on your future searches.

 

remember what I said about clear stuff like a drop of water looks incuse under a loupe. I know what you mean about being hard to remove , sometimes it takes something like a knife blade

 

And how do you do with the wet stuff?

 

hey man calm down

 

In can vouch that Matt wasn't careless with this one. I've seen a lot of glue, plastic, and other things I'd probably not care to speculate about stuck to the surface of coins, and this one was tough. The substance was clear with no cloudiness, and it refracted the light off the surface of the coin in such a way that it gave the appearance of being incuse. When I first took it out of the flip I thought it was incuse, and even when I first viewed it perpendicular to the surface through the loupe, I thought it was incuse. You really had to get it under magnification at an angle to see that it was raised. Here's a photo with the large area still intact.