I was looking for some errors/varieties and came across this interesting 1959D Washington quarter in my collection. It seems to have a RPM (as designated in the Cherrypicker's Guide) and also a nice die crack on the reverse. However, I am thinking that it is only machine doubling and not a doubled die on "STATES". TC
LOL...I'm looking at a roll of 1959-d quarters right now! Ever since I found of mini-hoard of Type-B reverses, I've been scouring rolls of quarters for more. Breen says Type-Bs can also be found in the Denver coins of the same period, but I haven't seen any (still looking). I've gone through quite a few rolls of Washington quarters and have seen the same anomolies you mention... 1. The "doubling" of letters in UNITED STATES of AMERICA is (as you say) machine doubling. 2. I posted a thread a year or two ago about interesting die cracks on the Obverse and Reverse of these quarters. They run across Washington's forehead and into the field on the Obverse. On the Reverse, common cracks run through QUARTER, across the outer edge of the wing, through E PLURIBUS, and down the other wing. 3. I've seen a variety of misshaped MMs, but none that I can say look exactly like Cherrypickers'. One thing that I find interesting...and seems to be consistent from roll to roll...is that there is generally 4-5 distinct groupings of anomolies per roll. For instance, I'll see about 8-10 coins with similar die cracks and another 8-10 with the same shaped MM, or 8-10 with a filled die, etc. That leads me to believe that the coins making up the roll are coming off multiple presses; each with slightly different die characteristics. Perhaps multiple machines fill a bag and the bag is then sent out to be rolled. When I was finding Type-B reverses, only about 8-10 coins per roll were Type-B reverses. I see that same trend when searching Unc rolls of Roosevelt dimes.
