Odd quarter -- no reeding, no rims, off-center, correct diameter

Discussion in 'Error Coins' started by Howard Black, May 15, 2019.

  1. Howard Black

    Howard Black Active Member

    This turned up recently, I've never seen anything like it. (I have seen my share of "casino" quarters and halves, but this looks nothing like them.) The casino coins always have the two sides all beat to hell, this coin has the usual "circulated" look (the lighting is a bit harsh and accentuates the scratches -- looking at it in normal room lighting with the naked eye it could almost pass for an AU coin. If I can do better I'll post some other images. I REALLY need to finish putting my copy rig together, argh...)

    The coin seems to be lacking a rim, as if it didn't fare too well in the upsetting mill. There are the faintest traces of reeding in a few spots, but they're "tilted" at the side, and soft/blurry (NOT the "worn" look seen on circulated coins) -- the look like this is the way they were made, rather than starting out nice and crisp and then getting worn down. If this was an oscilloscope I'd say they look like sine waves rather than square waves.

    Also, the strike is off-center on both sides. On the obverse, the date is bleeding off the bottom. On the reverse, the same with the "STATES OF" lettering.

    1993-P no reeding [obv].jpg

    1993-P no reeding [rev].jpg

    1993-P no reeding [edge].jpg

    1993-P no reeding [no rim].jpg
     
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  3. Oldhoopster

    Oldhoopster Member of the ANA since 1982

  4. alurid

    alurid Well-Known Member

  5. Shrews1994

    Shrews1994 Collecting is my passion.

    Off centerd strike and a broadstrike cause it has no reeded edge.
    I think both. Nice Find!
     
  6. Rick Stachowski

    Rick Stachowski Motor City Car Capital

  7. VT4Pac

    VT4Pac Active Member

  8. Howard Black

    Howard Black Active Member

    Thanks for all the input, folks! I've been taking everything in, reading all the linked material, examining the coin, and scratching my head.

    Does it matter that the diameter is not enlarged? There is definite "cupping" to the top of the obv. over "LIBERTY" which I hadn't noticed before -- thought it was just "unstruck area" until I read the error-ref material and took a closer look. It's cupped on the obverse and the reverse is flat, with a bit of a bevel toward the edge instead of having a rim. Will try to do some more photos (life is a bit hectic at the moment).
     
  9. Howard Black

    Howard Black Active Member

    PS: No way of knowing, but I wonder if this is from the "Great American Coin Hunt"? My last few rolls of quarters have yielded several State/ATB known errors and a 1936 in pretty nice condition (as well as this coin), which is much better than usual for me, and this is just from my rough sort -- I still need to loupe quite a few coins when I get the time.
     
    Randy Abercrombie and alurid like this.
  10. Howard Black

    Howard Black Active Member

    I'm still going through my quarters (they have grown like Topsy over the past few years, argh...) -- A few things have stood out while I've been sorting them (such as this one), and once I have them all where they belong, I will go through them checking against known errors, which, along with the "best of the best" will be reserved, while the rest will go to wife to spend. <g>

    I just found another "standout" coin -- it's a 2000-P Virginia in pretty much BU condition, with "glossy" obverse and "satiny" reverse -- and no copper core. I've gone round and round with a loupe to my eye and there's not a trace of copper. Nice crisp reeding. I have not been able to find anything on any experimental planchets for this coin, but I am going to keep searching to see if I can find anything. It has correct weight and measurements, it's not plated, has nice cartwheel luster, and I'm confused.
     
  11. Howard Black

    Howard Black Active Member

    Update! (If anyone is still reading this thread) -- I think it has a nickel core -- on a sudden brainstorm, I took a magnet too it. It was attracted. Wondering if this was just due to the nickel in the outer layers alloy, I tried with a few others (same year/mintmark/state) -- no attraction in them.
     
  12. alurid

    alurid Well-Known Member

    For which coin/ The 5.67g or the 6.25g
     
  13. Howard Black

    Howard Black Active Member

    It's 5.7g.

    I am still researching... I am thinking it may be "Magnimat" which the Mint experimented with while still designing the SBA dollar. It seems to be the same stuff -- nickel core with copper-nickel cladding, and no visible sandwich at the edge.

    Supposedly all pieces were accounted for, but that doesn't really mean anything. <g> A "bored" (i.e., mischievous) Mint employee could have slipped one into the mix for scheist und giggles.

    I wish I had access to an Xray spectrometer...
     
  14. Howard Black

    Howard Black Active Member

    PS: The magnet seems to have a stronger attraction at the edge than the faces.
     
  15. alurid

    alurid Well-Known Member

    A SBA planchet would not have been able to fit in the collar of a quarter press.
    Could the clad layer have been pushed down over the edge when the planchet was cut?
     
  16. Howard Black

    Howard Black Active Member

    No, it's a nice clean strike. That wouldn't have made it magnetic, either.

    I wasn't suggesting that an SBA planchet was used, just that the same material appears to have been used (or a similar sandwich from a different source).
     
  17. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan Eclectic & Eccentric Moderator

    Cool find, whatever it is.
     
    alurid likes this.
  18. Howard Black

    Howard Black Active Member

    Thanks. I was a bit incoherent -- sleep deficit, been dealing with a protracted R/L crisis. I was thinking there might have been a piece of scrap, or they may have cut down a larger blank, or just one of the many undocumented experiments -- or "less than undocumented" bits of mischief, like the Canadian quarter from the 1940s that had a US quarter struck over it decades later.

    Most likely will never know the real explanation. Will probably send it in for grading if they'll be able to determine the alloy (at a price that won't have me out on the corner with a sign saying "will hunt pennies for food" <g>).
     
  19. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    Any chance it could simply be nickel-plated?
     
  20. Howard Black

    Howard Black Active Member

    I guess anything is possible, but I highly doubt it. It doesn't look plated (which ultimately means nothing), but the weight and dimensions are where they should be, and the clincher for me is the cartwheel luster. If it were plated, the first thing to go would be the microscopic grooves formed by the galvano lathe when making the die, which create the diffraction grating that causes that visual artifact. They're gone in a hurry by simply handling a coin in daily commerce, the metal ridges are so tiny and so thin that they wear away with no effort at all.

    Plating would fill them up and leave a "shiny" coin bereft of luster.

    I'll try to take some photos a bit later. Right now I need to try to get a bit more than the few hours sleep I got last night. (I remember when I was young and healthy and strong and could work 18 hour days 7 days a week (it's so easy to have your own business), but now my seven decades are feeling like ten.)
     
  21. Howard Black

    Howard Black Active Member

    Here are some photos. Not the best quality, genuine Q/D work, right down to a hair on my finger!

    Notes: A few of the obverse, some showing how glossy it is, you can see the reflection of my thumb. The vertical yellow line in one of them is not on the coin, it's an image glitch.

    The reverse images show that it has a matte/satiny finish, very much unlike the obverse (if it was plated I would expect them to be similar). The second reverse image was done without flash -- the ambient light allowed the cartwheel luster to make its appearance (not nearly so nicely as a decent point-source light would have given, but like I said, Q/D, with heavy emphasis on the "Q" component).

    I took two shots of the edge, at different angles, to allow a look at the sides -- the "edge of the edge" so to speak.

    I will upload all as thumbnails except for one of the edge, so as to not further clutter this page.

    2000-P VA Obv-1.JPG 2000-P VA Obv-2.JPG 2000-P VA Obv-3.JPG
    2000-P VA Rev-1.JPG 2000-P VA Rev-2.JPG
    2000-P VA Edge-2.JPG

    2000-P VA Edge-1.JPG
     
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