Found a state quarter with an error...now what?

I'm not a coin collector, but I found an interesting quarter about a year ago. I got it back for change from some store and noticed something unusual about it, so I held on to it.

The quarter is a 2003 (P) Arkansas state quarter, with the back looking like a penny. Other than being a little tarnished on the back, the coin is in excellent shape. I did a little research on it, and it seems to be a missing clad layer mistake. I also saw that there are a lot of fakes out there, but this one feels lighter than a normal quarter, so I doubt its just been discolored.

So my question is, what do I do next? I have no real idea what the coin is worth. Would sending it somewhere to be graded/verified raise the value of the coin enough to offset spending the money to have it graded? Should I just post it up on eBay as it is now? or does anyone have any idea what something like this would be worth?

Sorry for the newbie post, I'm sure you get posts like these a lot and are pretty sick of them. I just don't want to make a mistake with this.

 

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LOL. No need to apologize. Yes, this one, the "silver colored penny", and the "two headed coin" seem to be pretty popular finds.

I suppose the best thing you can do is to take the coin to an experienced collector, or a coin dealer, to get their opinion first. If they believe it is an authentic error, then it "might" be worth the expence of having it authenticated by a slab company. It most likely will be easier to sell and fetch a higher price that way. <p>The value will depend on the condition of the coin, the scaresity of that particular error, the interest created by the sale, the terms of sale, etc., etc. JMHO

 

If you can post a photo, It will help give us a better idea of what to do.

 

Thanks guys! I'm sending it off to ANACS tomorrow morning to have it verified/graded and hopefully encapsulated if it's real. I just took it out of the case long enough to compare it to a regular state quarter and it is visibly thinner when placed side by side. It also feels lighter, but that may be my imagination coming into play.

I'll make sure to post pictures and everything when it comes back. I'm thinking of putting it up on eBay if it's real.