Though Florida and Maine have open space which can be easily scratched, I think that Rhode Island shows wear on its sail the quickest.
In the past there has been some variation not only in the rate of wear of specific dates of clad coins but also how this rate varies over time. The 1972 quarter shows very little loss of metal until it gets down to XF and then it's like most other dates. The '70 has worn very rapidly right from the beginning. Other dates like the '84-P show wear quickly because they have narrow and low rims to protect the central device. Many of these differences may be caused by differences in annealing but they could possibly be differences in methods of bonding the layers.
The state quarters are gonna wear out alot faster than the older type cuz of the detail as you all know. I got two quarters from a vending machine and both were South Carolina and on both of them the edges were completely smooth and the hair detail was flat and they looked just horrible.
Many of these differences may be caused by differences in annealing but they could possibly be differences in methods of bonding the layers.[/QUOTE] Do you suppose differences like this could exist in the state quarters series, or have they leveled out the process by now?
There will at least be minor differences but they may be very minor. There isn't much difference in the bonding process anymore but they do make changes in many other areas each year. It is true that the total amount of design area is a factor in the long run. In the shorter term much depends on the height of the rim and there doesn't appear to be a big difference with these yet.
