Roughly 40 years ago my dad and I came across two coins from 1934 in the change drawer at our dry cleaners that just didn't seem right. The cent had the look of a well worn silver dime. The quarter didn't look unusual but it didn't "ring" the way other quarters did-it clattered like a heavy button or modern casino chip. The cent went to ANACS years ago and came back "cent on dime planchet." We lost track of the quarter until recently. I sent it off to ANACS and got an email a few days ago with the verdict-1934 quarter; VF 20 details-cleaned. Pooh, I must be tone deaf! Not only that, I had to be one of the few people in the world with a slabbed VF cleaned 1934 quarter!!:goofer: Turns out the slab has the notation ""Clamshell" split plan" perhaps explaining the odd sound the coin made. I hadn't noticed any split but then again I wasn't looking for one. Is anyone familiar with this designation?
A clamshell if I recall correctly is when a layer of metal partially seperates from the rest of the coin. If you pulled it up, it would probably snap off. I think this is often seen on pennies. It usually looks like a flake of metal sticking off the coin, but I have a feeling your coin has split in the rim area, and cannot be seen. Hopefully one of the error guys can elaborate or explain if I am incorrect.
You got the idea Zane. An easy way of saying it is that the coin physically looks like a clamshell - it has split virtually in half right through the coin edgewise.
