Hi guys, I have this 1996 P Washington Quarter and noticed that there is double rim on the obverse above Washington's head. What type of error would this be considered?
There are a number of causes of these but without getting too lost in the tall weeds they're basically the result of a hammer die out of alignment, as Chris noted, above. Note there are actually two rims, one on the smaller planchet, due to the upset mill, and the second, due to the strike, forcing the metal up and out. When everything is "plumb," these rims meld together. When there's misalignment, or a tilting in the die, they come out funny, something like this. They're cool, but then quite common.
