Jokes aside, the unusual reeding and weak strike prompted me to throw it on the scale. As far as the reeding is concerned the notches are pressed into the copper core but don't extend into the clad layers (meaning the lower valleys of the notches are sunk below the cladding layer edge while the peaks are flush with the cladding layer). From what I know of the minting process this cannot be a minting error so therefore must be some type of PMD. With that, on to the weight. Surprisingly this clad coin is grossly underweight at 4.26g despite no discernible difference in diameter or thickness. This leaves me with a coin too thick to be struck from dime stock and being a clad coin highly unlikely to be an off metal. Underweight coins are not unheard of but are usually much thinner than a normal coin. So my question is if this is acid treated (despite appearing the same diameter and thickness as any other quarter), counterfeit, circulation wear, mint error (unlikely, I know), or something else? Sorry for the slightly blurry phone photos but it's what I have to work with at the moment.
Something about the first two photos make that quarter look "Off." Could be the lighting, but the dull appearance makes it look like a fake. As for the thickness, could be a thick planchet. It happens.
Yeah the one on the left is the coin in question. It's perfectly uniform around the entire circumference. I've never seen reeding quite like that before.
Sorry for the slow reply but I wanted a chance to get a closer look after I got home from work. It does have a dull sheen of what looks like oxidation at magnifications over 60x. Though it's not bonded to the metal like oxidation would be nor is there pitting under it which is easily removed by lightly scratching with a fingernail. I'm not sure what the coating is but it didn't appear to damage the surface underneath.
