Very curious "quarter"

Discussion in 'US Coins Forum' started by foggytown, Jan 7, 2010.

  1. foggytown

    foggytown Junior Member

    Greetings to the Group

    I am not a numismatist, but I am very curious about something I have come across which (to me) is VERY curious - and a mystery.
    I have an American quarter - 1978 - which seems perfect in every detail. The perplexing thing is its size: the diameter is only 1 cm! (5/16")

    http://tinypic.com/m/6z678l/1

    http://tinypic.com/m/6z678m/1

    It seems to be made out of metal.

    I can't imagine why such detail would be reproduced for something with no apparent practical value. At first I thought it was, like, a part of a child's game or some toy. But, if it were made to scale, the dime and nickel would be almost microscopic. And they would be lost (or swallowed) in an instant.

    The best part is that it turned up in a charity shop in Redhill, Surrey, England!

    As I said, it is a perfect representation of a 1978 quarter but heaven knows why anyone went through the trouble to make it. I'd surely love any ideas from the Group.

    Thanking you,
    Mike G
     
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  3. Hi Mike, it looks to me like a novelty item. Something that was made just for the sake of making it. There is a way to shrink real coins, I've been told, but I don't think what you have there is one of them. I could be wrong, and maybe one of the experts will chime in with more detail.

    It's a cool item for sure!
     
  4. coleguy

    coleguy Coin Collector

    Looks like a shrunken coin to me. There's at least one person who makes these from real coins and you can buy for a small fee. Check out his site: http://205.243.100.155/
    Guy~
     
  5. krispy

    krispy krispy


    Check out the links in this post in the thread 'small penny' or this thread 'shrunken washington quarter' amongst other threads that you can find floating around here using the CoinTalk 'search' function in the tool bar at the top of each page. Seems to be someone pops into CT about once a month or so with the similar curious tiny coin inquiry thing. Cheers!
     
  6. mpcusa

    mpcusa "Official C.T. TROLL SWEEPER"

    Thats a cool site, It looks like a quarter on a nickle the coin i mean
    It met the which doctor prophecy!!
     
  7. playboy_nbr1

    playboy_nbr1 Junior Member


    just received mini st. gaudens, was kinda curious to how they did it. Isn't this considered defacing currency?
     
  8. Firmso

    Firmso Coin Dawg

    looks like a a clasp around the edge of a authentic fake. lol
     
  9. Conder101

    Conder101 Numismatist

    The coin in the OP is a novelty piece not one of the shrunken quarters.
     
  10. krispy

    krispy krispy

    How do you tell the difference?
     
  11. krispy

    krispy krispy

    I know there are others such as the Mini Coins These 'magic' prop coins appear on CT from time to time.
     
  12. ERROR HUNTER

    ERROR HUNTER Coins,Stamps

  13. Conder101

    Conder101 Numismatist

    As the shrunken coins are crushed by the magnetic field they are made much thicker but they normally take on a "doughnut" appearance with the bulged area being more prominent than at the center of the coin or at the rim
     
  14. playboy_nbr1

    playboy_nbr1 Junior Member

    wow. i looked at the site but still didn't quite know how it shrunk. thanks for putting in the magnetic field part. lol must of just saw the bright light and thought of a shrink ray i guess. lol
     
  15. Conder101

    Conder101 Numismatist

    As the shrunken coins are crushed by the magnetic field they are made much thicker but they normally take on a "doughnut" appearance with the bulged area being more prominent than at the center of the coin or at the rim
     
  16. foggytown

    foggytown Junior Member

    Also, from the references given here, it looks like the shrink method results in a 10% to 20% reduction. This miniature I have is reduced by about 60% from the standard quarter size.
     
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