Coinbuf

Agreed, they lost my business years ago.

Very true, and coin shops make money by selling, any smart owner does not want to tell a prospective new customer bad news and have them leave mad. Better to tell them something positive, even if not totally true, and hope they return and buy, maybe by the third visit for information only will the coin shop be less positive.

Looks to be a proof coin to my eyes as well. I would not suggest you attempt a submission in the hopes of getting a PL MS grade, but it's your decision.

The scale tells the tale, not silver.

There are many reasons why collectors choose to crossover coins, higher grades are seldom the main reason. While it does happen now and then it has been my experience that the two TPG's do not very often award higher grades on crossovers. As you have never done so the submission form allows you to choose, cross at grade (or higher) or any grade which allows the TPG to downgrade. Collectors are a funny bunch and do things that, at least to me, seem odd. There are several members of the PCGS forum that claim they are so happy to have a coin out of NGC plastic and into PCGS plastic that they are fine with taking a point (or more) downgrade on a crossover and choose the cross at any grade every time. Now remember that this is talk on a chat board so I take that type of bravado with a grain of salt, and I would not be all that surprised if some of that is just a way to suck up to whomever. Often, they claim the coin is worth more in the marketplace in the lower PCGS grade than the NGC holder. There is no denying the fact that often PCGS graded coins do sell for more than the identical grade coins in NGC holders even when both have CAC beans. That is a verifiable fact and reality of the current market, and some do a crossover simply because they dislike the white prongs of the NGC holder. Another big reason for crossovers is for registry reasons, remember that PCGS does not allow any other TPG graded coins in their registry. So, if you want to play in the PCGS registry sandbox you either cross your other TPG graded coins or sell those coins and buy new PCGS graded ones. While less often cited there are a few collectors that participate in the NGC registry that want all their coins to be in NGC plastic for the NGC registry too. So, attempting a crossover for a higher grade is actually quite low on the list of reasons for a crossover. If you talk to any of the crackout specialists, they will tell you it is far more advantageous to crack and send a coin in raw if you really feel the coin is deserving of a higher grade vs the crossover route. As to why coins grade the same or higher when submitted raw when those same coins failed on crossover, well that is kinda like asking what happened to Kennedy. There is the "official" story and then there are lots of opinions, but no real facts are known.

Houston, we have a problem.

I have read and heard countless stories of coins that graded the same or higher when cracked out even though those coins failed to cross, and that is for both P to N or N to P. Both of the services will tell you that they are very conservative because they have in the past had to eat some very expensive coins when a problem was discovered only after the cross was approved and the old competitor holder cracked open. There is truth and merit to this concern, however, it is my belief that both P and N have do have a bias when it comes to crossovers. That is of course just my opinion but if you look at the crossover stats on the PCGS webpage you would see they have a rather low success rate as well. So you might be just as, or even more disappointed if you choose to only use PCGS and try and cross all your coins to P plastic. I refuse to play the crossover game anymore, just not worth the angst and issues.

Maybe these are the navel lint variety.

I see nothing in your photo of the obv to think you have anything but a normal clad quarter. To echo what the others have said, why do you think it is silver.

Glad to see you here and looking forward to learning more about what you collect. Coins like the one you posted are actually quite commonplace in circulation, some are created in an attempt to deceive, others are the products of boredom, and even the odd everyday mishaps of life.

Welcome to the forum, what you have is just post mint damage, perhaps the victim of a bath in a mild acid like pool acid. Notice how the hair on the obv bust looks melted, the coin did not leave the mint in this condition.

It may have actually been a true error coin, however, as has been pointed out someone thought they could make it extra special and ruined the coin with a vice job on the coin. Unfortunate as it now is just a damaged coin.

AU58, pretty and desirable half.

There are only two at this grade none higher at NGC, MS67RB is the highest at PCGS, and this is the only one with CAC approval. The other MS67+RB is also up for auction at GC and closes this coming weekend. I'm guessing it will sell for $200-$300 without the CAC approval bean, neither coin is very attractive to my eye, but that is a different subject.

Counterfeit coins, no doubt.

The term a fool and his money are soon parted comes to mind. I guess that sounds like I'm judging, and in a sense I am. I have no issue with how anyone collects or what they collect, but anytime you pay top dollar for a condition rarity you are setting yourself up for a future disappointment when a new top pop gets made. I know this from experience, and I know that there are tons of coins like this out in the wild sitting in folders and albums (or being cooked up right now), it's only a matter of time before the population swells and the price falls. If you are prepared for that outcome and willing and able to take the hit, all is well, but...

Well the first step is confirm that your scale is properly calibrated, if it is then the next most likely solution to the underweight coin is as @Sandon suggested the blank may have been an end of strip planchet. It is not uncommon for the very end of the strip of metal the blanks are punched from to be tapered and slightly thinner. Did you measure the thickness of the coin?

Very nice I have been through the Marana area on many trips to Tucson, and my brother in law and I occasionally fly into the Marana airport in his Cessna for breakfast. That is a real blast blazer there, another super nice coin! This coin has that nice rich blasty look and looks very much like two of the PCGS coins that GC auctioned. I am always cautious and a bit critical when talking about grading from photos (btw congrats on your photos, they are excellent) especially when a condition census level grade is involved. It is no easy task to break through a grade celling and have the first new top pop for pre 1964 collector coins. While I think the coin has plenty of luster to support an MS68 grade, from the photos there appear to be some leftover planchet marks on the bust which did not fully strike out. While those are as struck I think that they might give pause and could prevent a higher grade. But I also know that photos can accentuate and make very minor flaws appear to be more significant than in hand. And luster is a very big part of the grading quotient in todays grading room, so I would never say never when it comes to great coins getting great grades. I am not a coin dealer just a long time collector so no brick and mortar shop for me. I enjoy helping out collectors and providing whatever assistance I can to give back to this great hobby, and this forum provides the opportunity for me to do that now and again.

That is a very cool find! I'm sure he was super excited when he found it, very nice even in that condition.

I am not much into the commems, but as already noted this has an "off" look and I would question its authenticity.

Yep as already said this is not an error just damage of one kind or the other.

Very nice Gen4 holder, the original photos did not show the luster as well as the subsequent photos and slab shots. The color look dark but original and while I would like to see a stronger strike for the grade I can see why NGC graded it MS66.

Sandon is correct, the holo rev label is on the outside of the slab. The slab is fine and not tampered with, the holo is just scratched.

My guess is VF details holed and plugged.

Sorry to hear of your experience on this coin and the registry slot, have you attempted to contact the registry team at NGC and discuss why the set make up was changed? I certainly would not be happy about that as well, just one of the reasons why I do not collect moderns.