Check out the pics, hopefully they show enough you will be able to see the things that tripped me out on this coin when I found it. On the right hand of the obverse, somewhere between 4 and 5 o'clock it is struck-through a couple of pieces of what I'm guessing might be some kind of braided wire, based on the indentation that it left in the crevice. The struck through mark continues in two places, one of which is at the base of Washington's neck. That's not the trippy part.... There are places on the right and left side of Washington that appear as if they have been ground off. Washington's nose looks broken on this coin. Part of the letters have the appearance of being ground off, and there are tiny swirl marks on the profile of washington's face. All under the clad layer, which leads me to believe that this was done to the die before the coin was struck. I don't know if it is valuable as errors go, but it sure is interesting! If someone knows what this kind of error is called, please tell me, I'd greatly appreciate it. Enjoy the pictures!
I agrree with hamman88, This is definatly post mint... Otherwise known as damage or wear... Sorry we couldn't give you an exciting answer, thanks for posting and welcome to the forum!! Keep on posting sooner or later you will find the "BIG" one!!DAK
Howdy Guys, Thanks for the answers, even if they aren't the ones I was hoping for, lol. I don't get discouraged easily...If I did, I picked the wrong hobby, huh? I appreciate your encouragement Dak! Since I am a newbie, I need you to clear some things up for me: If all that grinding off of letters and stuff is post-mint damage why is the damage underneath the clad layer? Since it actually created indentations where it appears to be ground, that means it would have removed enough material to go through the clad layer, and then some. If it is post mint wouldn't the damage have to go through the clad layer, exposing the metal underneath? Also, what about the tight, swirling circular marks along the profile of his face? It's clearly done from a tool and not wear. and if it was done from a tool, and it is under the clad layer, wouldn't it HAVE to be from an overtooled die or something like that? Just trying to understand why you said what you said. Sorry about all the questions, but that is what answers sometimes do...create more questions, right? Thanks for the help and the education...
First, the grinding or whatever damage it is, never penetrated through the entire Clad layer on the Obverse to expose the Copper core! Second, the swirling marks were made by the rolling machine used by whatever Bank, Company or whoever rolled the coin into what they call a OBW (Original Bank Wrapped) roller with the other 39 Quarters! Your Quarter was apparently the end coin in the roll and had the Obverse showing. Frank
I see what you are saying, however: If the grinding was enough to remove the raised lettering on the coin, it would have had to first remove the clad layer covering it, wouldn't it? That just makes sense to me. What I am saying is that if it were post mint, where the letters are partially or even mostly ground away, the clad would have to be ground away as well, right? And in this case it isn't. No matter how far down the letters or coin is ground to, there is still a full layer of clad over it. That seems suspicious to me as far as it being post strike, but this is an ongoing education, and I have been wrong before. Not trying to argue, just understand. Thanks for your insights. I never thought about a coin roller doing the other damage to the coin. Very plausible.
Take a quater and grind the letters off, it will not show copper. Clad is thick as oppoesed to plated.
It may sound stipid, but I highy recommend an afternoon in the garage with some coins and various tools. Beat, file, hammer, drill, and otherwise deface the coins. ons. I did this when I was a kid and it helped me immensely in recognizing post-strike damage.
The copper core is only 50% of the thickness of the coin and is usually centered between the two layers. If you take a quarter and grind away at one edge, you will eventually see just how balanced the copper core and cupronickel layers are. When damage has occurred to the dies, it will appear raised on the coin, never recessed. When a coin has been struck through something, the damage will be recessed. For as deep as the groove is on your coin, if it was caused by a strikethrough, the foreign material would most likely still be retained in the coin and there would be a very clear distinction between where the damage is and where it isn't. Your coin appears that someone took a dremel or even just a drill bit to it. Believe it or not, it's just as valuable to come across the damaged coins as well as the true errors. It makes it easier to distinguish between the two in the future. Plus, just because it's worthless to someone else, doesn't mean it's worthless to you. You should see some of the strange stuff in my collection that most would consider spenders. My son loves t o collect damaged coins and comes up with the most amazing stories as to how it happened (and sometimes he even postulates why).
