WASHINGTON (Jan. 20) - The release of thousands of flawed Wisconsin state quarters that set off a buying frenzy, and speculations of foul play, was a mistake stemming from an ill-timed meal break, a government investigation has found. According to the report: • A press operator at the Denver Mint working on a Friday night in November 2004 noticed blemishes on coins produced at one of the five presses he was operating. • The operator stopped the machine and left for a meal break. • The operator returned to see the machine running and assumed someone else changed the die. • When conducting regular inspections, the operator realized the die was not changed. The press likely had been operating for 1½ hours, and thousands of coins were "commingled" with unblemished quarters, the report said. No one was fired as a result of the incident. Mint spokeswoman Becky Bailey says by the time the final error was realized, the quarters were bagged and ready to be shipped. It would have been too costly to separate the blemished quarters from the good quarters by hand or to destroy them, Bailey says.
Accidents like this are what makes coin collecting so fascinating. Thanks to this "lunch break" all coin collectors were presented with another scarse but findable modern treasure.
Give me a BREAK. Who can possibly believe this malarky! Pretty convienent random die stress there, right guys! Pffff Ruben
I don't want anyone to loose their livelohood over this but really.... And the easter eggs in MS Word?
OK, interesting explanation, but how do they explain the "blemish" looking exactly like a leaf? Forgive me for stating the obvious, but wouldn't the odds of that happening randomly be astronomical?
Sounds like someone told a lie to save their job, a manager bought it (knowing or not knowing it was crap), and everyone is living happily ever after. I am not bothered - the guy keeps his job, and we keep our coins (although I don't have one yet).
