I dropped by ANA Headquarters this afternoon to return a couple of books to the ANA Library. It was supposed to be a very short visit but it turned out to be a 45-minute visit. As I was leaving the receptionist asked if I would take a look at a quarter for a guy who had just walked in. I said, "Sure!" He handed me a New York State Quarter in a Kointain. At first I thought the reverse was stained. Then I thought it was toned. After I put on my reading glasses (yep, I have reached that age) I noticed that I was looking at copper. I asked if I could take the coin out of the Kointain holder. The quarter was noticeably light and thin (about the thickness of a dime). It was very obvious that the coin was struck on a planchet that was missing one clad layer. The coin was almost fully struck but the reeding was weak. We got Doug Mudd (ANA Museum curator) to come look at it and weigh it. The coin was about 1 gram light (which pretty much confirmed to me a clad layer is missing). Doug agreed with my assessment - missing clad layer. We recommended to the owner of this coin that he take it to a nearby dealer to have it sent to NGC for authentication. He will probably sell it and having it slabbed will help it bring more. (Let me put on my asbestos suit and get ready for flaming from the anti-slab crowd.:hail This thin quarter reminded me of the early (pre-1831) Quarters that had a large diameter and were thin. The owner of the coin is just your average blue-collar guy. He knows nothing about coins. He got the error quarter in change at a car wash in 2001, noticed that the reverse was copper and it was very thin. So he stuck it in a Kointain and hung on to it. Now, 8 years later, he decided to bring it by ANA to find out what he had. I'm glad I happened to be there when he walked in. Sorry, I don't have any photos. I had my camera in the car but my macro lens was at home.
