This isn't my coin and I don't even know whose it is. I found it during an internet search. It's supposedly a 1965 Washington quarter of the proper weight. Its edge appears to be properly reeded but the copper core is smaller than the diameter of the cladding. Any thoughts on whether it's legitimate, or how the error occurred?
one of the most common reasons for this is acid. Different metal types disolve at different rates in acid causing the copper core to be cut down faster than the cupro nickel. This may or may not be the case in this instance. without seeing it in person it is hard to tell. The only thing important here is that it is indeed post mint damage as the three layers ot the coin are cut in a single strike and therefor could not happen at the mint. Richard
Ya got me on how this is caused, but I've got some cents like that, with that exact kind of "rimming." I'll get some pictures up here if you'd like to see them...
Look at the flat pics first. It's a striking error of some kind that leads to this "rim peculiarity." The planchet wasn't seated or held right...something like that. I see the same thing going on in the clad quarter only the core of that is of course contrasted better from the surface than in the cent. Just my one cent on this...
Well, it's certainly not an acid that caused this, since the 1956 is a uniform mixture of metal throughout. How is the weight and diameter, compared with a "normal" cent? If it was struck out of the collar it should be wider than specification.
the 56 cent was formerly the center of a "Lucky Cent" token. The damage to the rim is done when the outer rim is crimped on the cent. At some point the cent was then removed from the token/. Richard
The cent is different than the quarter in that the quarter has no rim damage on the faces of the coin, only at the center of the rim
Wow, that's interesting Ziggy. So David, then the quarter rim is differentiated. I just remembered I had a strange cent with a rim shaped like that. But it's plain the reeding on the quarter is intact, meaning it wasn't "pressed in" by anything. Back to square one on this one...