Are you showing us the Obverse or the Reverse of the Quarter? Can we see the other side? Oh sorry, I just saw the thumbnail of the Obverse!
Someone just carved out the other side. The way coins are minted makes it pretty much impossible for this to happen.
Notice how the nicks skip around in an elliptical path? To me, that suggests that someone used a grinding wheel at high speed on a Dremel tool. Chris
Weigh it. If its perfectly in line with what is should weigh it is more interesting. If its too light, then I am of the opinion with others its PMD.
Most quarters will show copper if you take off so much metal. Weigh it. It's probably PMD but I wouldn't go solely by the apparent damage.
Why is it that so many are so quick to jump on the PMD Bandwagon, especially before they have all the data? There is apparent marking from a rotary tool but there is no evidenge at all that would point to the entire surface having been machined. There are no circular lathe markings, there is no evidence that the surface has been ground down with a rotary tool, there is no evidence of overall polishing, there is no sign of copper showing through. In short, if you're so sure it is a victim of "PMD" then back up your comment with evidence. I think the likely cause is two planchets dropping into the press collar, one having one side stamped by the die and the other side just protected from the die by the other planchet. There's probably another one sided quarter out there somewhere.
if that were to happen, wouldn't the rims get oblierated on both blank sides where the planchets were against each other?
That's a good point and probably true. So I'll propose another way it could have been done deliberately in the Mint (it is well known that mint employees must be pretty bored and without direct supervision because they make all kinds of deliberate "errors"). The OP's coin is an obverse so let's say the mint employee put a blank slightly smaller than a quarter over the anvil die, then a quarter planchet over that and then stamped the pair. The excess diameter of the quarter would squeeze past the lower, smaller disc and would produce a quarter with a full rim, a full obverse and a blank reverse. If this scenario seems implausable then I'd be interested to hear why so, and if the PMD train is still running, how it was made, giving supportive evidence.
I feel like this person just posted a picture and left for good. No comments or other threads beside this one. I and we have a few questions! Hello @HellolmJaci You posted this quarter on Tuesday and we haven't heard from you since. I have some questions for you. First, where did you find the one sided quarter? Second, can you weight it? Third, do you have anything else to add or say? I want to see a picture of the rim and maybe a different angle of the blank reverse!
You're grabbing at straws now. With the speed that the presses push out coins, no mint worker is fast enough to do this.
When in full production mode the presses run at high speed. In set up mode, as when dies are first installed and tested for orientation, strike pressure, etc, the press is run one strike at a time. Maybe I am "grabbing (sic) at straws" but I'm still waiting for the PMD train to stop and explain how this could have been done by hand, especially the perfect rims and no tool marks other than the scratches where a tool did leave out of control markings.
Perhaps The OP might send this quarter to Ken Potter or someone else for evaluation? That is if he/she ever comes back here.
When a poster won't go through the minimal expense / effort to get a coin weighed, we're all just whizzing in the wind in most cases. I believe the state quarters were generally struck with the reverse as the hammer die. Although, the pictures aren't great, thes appears, to me, to be some sort of capped die. We'll probably never know, though.