Shiny 1978 quarter with no mint marks

New member here. I have a question about a quarter I came across. Its extremely shiny with no clad marks on side. I originally pulled it out because I thought it was silver. It also has no proof marks. Does anyone know if its anything? Here are some pics.

 

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I think it has been plated

 

Ditto!

Chris

 

What does it weigh?

 

No Mint Mark means it was minted at the Philadelphia Mint.
I also say it's been plated.

 

The coin looks to be plated. The best place to start is to weigh the coin.
Weigh the coin in grams and tell us what the result is. We can then give you a better idea if it is plated or not and go from there.

 

On my digital scale a 'normal quarter weighs 5.7 grams. This quarter weighs 5.7 grams

 

a silver clad (40%) blank would weigh 5.7 grams

the weight is correct for a Mint error.

Better pictures would be helpful.

 

Thanks. Why would someone plate a quarter?

 

The silver clad issues of these coins all came from San Francisco, whereas this coin was struck in Philadelphia.

I would recommend taking it to someone with a really accurate scale to weigh it, and if it weighs 5.7 g, then take it to an expert for further authentication.

 

People do it all of the time. reasons vary. Some reasons even make sense to some people.

 

Or it was a Quarter that was a bit underweight to start with and the plating was just enough to bring it up to the normal weight

 

It's a plated quarter

From the hobby center and think tank of MTS.LLC

 

There's something about the 1978 quarter I don't understand. I read somewhere that the ones with no mint mark we're supposed to be for businesses and not put into General circulation. But now I'm seeing contradictory things about that

 

Ones with no mintmark, or D mintmarks are what are called "Business strikes". and that means they are intended to be used in everyday commerce. In other words used for conducting "business" (not just by businesses). This is in contrast to the S mint coins since 1980 with are not intended for business/commerce, they are numismatic or "collector" coins and are made specifically for sale to collectors. (There are exceptions to these rules, before 1968 collector coins were made in Philadelphia without mintmarks, S mint coins from 1968 to 70, 79, and 1980 were made for both commerce and collectors. There are other exceptions as well.)

 

It's a plated quarter that worth a whopping twenty five cents.

 

We really don't need any more comments about whether it is plated, that question was addressed three years ago.

 

A fellow coin Authenticator I used to work with told me about a conversation he once had with a guy who worked for a company that did metal plating. The guy said that whenever he mixed up a new batch of plating solution, he used to take a coin out of his pocket and plate it as a test piece. He then just put the coin back in his pocket and spent it. No doubt there are many other reasons why a normal coin would be plated.
As others have pointed out, the Philadelphia Mint did not use mint marks in 1978. It began using them on the Anthony dollars in 1979, and on every denomination above the Cent in 1980.

 

Well, excuse me.

 

I needed that laugh this morning.