985-P Quarter?

I've recently come across this quarter, which should be a 1985-P. The odd thing is, there is no '1' in the date.
The area where the 1 should be seems to be every so slightly risen. When I say "ever so slightly," I mean it. It's almost invisible without a magnifier.
Is this a form of an error quarter, or is it some variation I've never heard of?

 

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Does it look like it's been scratched off? If not, I'd say it is from a grease filled die. I have several state quarters missing the mint marks that are from grease filled dies.

 

There is nothing unusual about it at all. It was struck in Persia in the year 985AD. I do have to warn you, though. Middle easterners are just as apt to produce counterfeits as the Chinese.

Chris:devil:

 

It looks like it was struck by a grease-filled die.

Chris

 

No, it doesn't seem scratched off, just like there wasn't enough force in that area.

 

Yeah I'm gonna say (with my albeit limited knowledge) that it was struck with a grease filled die....Or it was minted in Persia like cpm9ball said.

 

I just realized it's worn in the exact same area on the reverse.
Not as worn as the obverse, but still clearly... not-so-thoroughly punched.

 

It's worth a whopping 25 cents. You might find a sucker to give you a dollar or two for it though.

 

Think about what you are implying for an instant. How could a die, which is harder than the planchet it is striking, strike different areas of the coin with unequal pressure?

What has occurred is that debris from the minting process, which amounts to bits of metal, machine oil, and common dust, begin accumulating in the crevice of the die. Grease attracts grease (Anybody thats ever worked on an old engine will attest to this).

enough grease can actually fill certain areas of the die leaving other areas totally unaffected. When this happens, metal cannot flow into those recesses on the die and the end result is a coin which is missing one or more parts of its design.

The pressures which cause this can also jar that debris loose causing whats know as a "dropped letter" which gets imprinted as a crevice or depression on the surface of the coin.

Your coin, regardless of what you're attempting to read into it, is the result of a "grease filled" die. There is little if any premium associated with this at all as it was and still is a common occurance during the minting process.