I was just taking a couple shots of the new Iowa Quarter and noticed something on the front - it's faint but it is an imprint of the back of a nickel on the front of the quarter. I'm uploading a couple pictures as I hope someone can either tell me I'm just seeing things or it really is what it looks like. Thank you for your time and any answers Just FYI- I had gotten a roll of quarters from the bank for doing laundry, noticed they are all the Iowa quarters. I didn't see the mark on any of the other ones. Just the one-quarter.
First, welcome to the neighborhood @Oldschoollee ! The first thing you have to ask yourself is, "How could a quarter fit in a nickel coining chamber?" Chris
As I said, I could just be seeing something, only reason I was asking - If it isn't something, it goes for doing laundry. Never hurts to ask or check right? that's why I put photo up and lines to where I was seeing the image. I did check the others in the roll and not one had the same mark as this one did. My father was the one that bought and collected coins for a side hobby. when he passed away, his business leech stole all the coins he saved for years and sold them. thx 4 answer
I think the most likely explanation for OP's coin is that it took a couple of hard hits, and our brains are good at matching random marks to familiar patterns. The next most likely explanation is that a nickel got mashed into the face of the quarter at some point after it left the Mint. I'm really not seeing the pattern match myself, though.
I happen to live in Denver and the Mint is only a few miles away. I received this roll of quarters from a bank around the 16th of this month. All the quarters in the roll are Iowa 2017. Sorry don't know all the technical terminology - but they all are very crisp looking, bright n shiny to have been circulated. The photos I took were with my cell phone so they are not as good as I would have liked them to be. The lens on phone does have a couple of scratches on it. I've shown the quarter to a couple of my neighbors and they also said they could see the faint outline of what looks like the back of a nickel. My best bet is probably going to a coin dealer here and hopefully, don't get laughed at too hard .... You know there is always one person betting on the long shot and if you don't take a chance sometimes in life, you could miss out on something.
And the next most likely would be a strike through of some sort, which is both a distant third, and very hard to discern from a photo.
Okay, that does make it a bit less likely that someone damaged the coin deliberately. But I'm still thinking it's likely just a random array of dents/scratches that ended up resembling part of the nickel design. Do let us know if you find out more!
I'll bet "Mint Error" wasn't included on the insert because they didn't have room for it. The reason NGC switched to the left-hand format was to allow more room for information. Just as I thought! The strike is very weak, and it is probably due to the fact that it was not adjusted for a "dollar-to-nickel" die set-up. To me, this suggests that someone was doing something they weren't supposed to be doing. Chris
You notice the obv is weak and the back appears to be pretty much non-existent. The planchet was laying on top of the collar. The strike probably used up most of its power forcing the collar down and it had to force it down a fair way before the back of the planchet would even make contact with the rev die. Since there was no real pressure opposite the obv die the impression is very weak, and the back didn't even reach the reverse die till near the end of the stroke so little or no rev impression.
