i have 2 1909 quarters no mint marks one weighs 5.4 grams the other weighs 5.9 grams the coin with the most wear weighs the most other quarters weigh between 5.9 and 6.25 grams.looking for some knowledge
It's not unusual to lose some weight with wear, but not that much weight for that level of wear. Does it stick to a magnet?
The top coin was likely buried, and lost more material off of its total surface area due to environmental corrosion than the bottom coin lost at high points alone due to normal wear and tear above ground. An easy "tell" is the difference in width of the reverse denticles.
yes your right the coin has some crud cant help that much with out cleaning it you got any suggestions. no it does stick to a magnet.it does appear to be smaller in diameter.
what should i look for denticles the top coin appears to be smaller and closer together if that is correct what would that mean
There are only three (3) possible answers...a loss of metal prestrike, a loss of metal post strike, or counterfeit. 3/4ths of an ounce is a lot of metal loss. Assuming your scale is correct, I'm leaning towards "Thin Planchet" (prestrike). I don't see enough wear/corrosion to account for that much metal loss and I don't see enough "tells" to call it counterfeit. However, if you have to choose between my answer and @ToughCOINS ...I would listen to ToughCOINS.
well i dont think the coin was buried other than having some corrosion the coin displays a lot of detail compared to a lot of my barber qtr. liberty is totally readable there are some chest feathers on the eagle e pluribus unum is faint but readable it just weighs less ? the coin is smaller around than other barbers and a little thicker numbers and letters are smaller and closer to the neck line and rim
It could be (as @ToughCOINS says) the loss of metal was uniform across the surface (perhaps from an acidic environment). That would blur detail without eliminating it (e.g. blurry denticles).
nahh. acidic soil and buried and cleaned. it's taken off material in a uniform manner and shrunk the coin. it also appears to have been cleaned which would have taken off more metal in that process. I think that's what's going on here. if the acidic environment has uniform contact, it will eat away metal in a uniform pattern from the highs and the lows at the same rates. what you can't really avoid is the damaged surface from the acid. the black areas suggest terminal toning also, and bad. If it was wear, the deticles would be flattened like the other coin is. I think it was in the ground for a while, toned terminally and got eaten up by acidic soil, and someone tried cleaning it up after finding it and that's as good as it gets. surfaces are flat and lusterless also. probably it was in pretty outstanding condition when it was lost though to have that much left all the details from the date to the ribbon are "thinner/smaller" in appearance. even the rim is further away from the stars on the obverse and letters on the reverse. And if wear, that Liberty in the headband wouldn't be there, E Pluribus Unum would be "more gone" also, if it was a thin planchet, it wouldn't be there, full details would not be struck. it's there, and I don't know if that was added, but my guess is, environmental conditions just dropped it all at the same speeds, and then someone tried really hard to clean it up and this is the result. so, going with buried, acidic environment, probably high in sulfur and it was probably a thick black layer on it for decades eating away from the coin.
A good soak in 100% acetone might help and it isn't considered "cleaning" as it would just remove the surface crud and not affect the metal or patina.
I feel like that's been done already and scrubbed, and what's left is deeply seated terminal toning which acetone won't do anything for.
