Yep, various places gold-plated these and then sold them to people who thought they were an "investment". Not so much. (The ones I've seen were at least still MS when they were plated; looks like this one had circulated a bit before it got the treatment.)
Hey Larry we are trying to edumacate ya! The first time I found one of these it was plated in platinum. I believe it was a Tennessee state quarter.
WOW, eh ? there are MANY third party companies that resell gold plated (or platinum, silver, Black Ruthenium, combo metal plating, Painted, Colorized, stickers, etc) coins. Sooner or later they end up in circulation. Since they are plated *after* they left the US MINT, they are considered damage (PMD aka Post Mint Damage) by coin collectors. Here are TWO such companies:
When the state quarter series kicked off, suddenly half the nation became coin collectors. At the time, Mike Mezack who is now well renown for his TV coin programs was all over the television hawking these quarters in gold plated sets. Now they are little more than oddities and worth face value. The gold plating, while pretty is worth virtually nil.
Oh, dear Merrick Mint. My apologies for dismissing these as merely plated when they may actually have been LAVISHED with gold. (Still looking for patents and such so I can get a grasp of the "lavishing" process. Maybe it involves taking them out to dinner.)
you do get a Full-Color Certificate of Authenticity ... that it is legal US Tender ... worth face value. you can buy a bathtub full of 'em and lavish yourself in them
My apologies for apparently not making a jimmy neutron level responseto your expectations.Even though it was to the point!!!and described properly based on your coin and question overall.
certificates don't mean anything. They're a selling point to people who don't know any better just like the super thin gold plating.
I got a gold-plated quarter from a teller at the Credit Union that I bank with. My wife taught her in high school. She told me that a customer brought in in and wanted to know if it was valuable. She gave the customer a quarter for it and I gave her a quarter for it. The customer thought it was valuable.
