Sorting through change I found a 1991-P Washington Quarter with no "P" mintmark. Here's a picture: http://www.redshift.com/~akin/wq1991nop.jpg and here's a 1991-P for reference: http://www.redshift.com/~akin/wq1991p.jpg I've looked at the quarter with a loupe and can't find any evidence of tampering. The weak "IN" part of "IN GOD WE TRUST" makes me think it's grease clogged in the die. What do you think? Have any of you run across this before?
People who collect these may think this is a dumb question, but for the rest of us, what are the diagnostics that tell you the coin isn't missing a "D"?
There are none, but, you will usually see a very faint trace of the mintmark. Even if the mintmark is greased up it will still leave some trace (usually).