RWB

It's been so long since I got change from a purchase, that's I'm not sure what to do with it.... It'll take time to get accustomed to the new portrait.

I suspect both the coin and photo have been cleaned and retoned - using an EZ Bake play oven with 100 watt incandescent light bulb. (Did you ever see what happens if you replace the standard 100 watt bulb with an LED equivalent in your kid's EZ Bake?)

Yes, the secondary quote function changes who made the embedded remark. GoldFinger1969 is correct.

Well, geeezzzzz...it is a MINOR coin, so it should have "minor marks"...I guess.

Check with a local college sorority....

RE: "How true is it that sometimes die cracks add to the value of a coin ?" Sometimes. Other times, they are not what they're cracked up to be.

RE: "Can a state quarter weigh 5.8 grams" ? Only for large area states like California, Texas, Alaska, Montana. Small states such as Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Delaware were given light-weight state quarters. Most were in the middle.

Here is the URL: https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1006619/resources-books-to-read-on-numismatic-series-and-varieties. It's a good collection of books and I'm glad they kept it at the top of the page. There are a few out-of-date dogs, but most of the books listed from the past 20-30 years are good references. (The Breen Encyclopedia was once a great reference, but modern research has shown that it is filled with false, inaccurate and invented material. A reader has to be proficient in American numismatics to separate the good bits from the garbage and Breen's lies.)

That delay might also be used to claim government abandonment....an interesting situation. Of course, if "they" wait until everyone connected with the coins in 1974 is dead, then anything could be presumed.

The Mint Bureau has played with several different finishes for Unc coins and others. They have also tossed about names for these finishes with no logic or connection to past practices. Hence, you "gherkin" nickel could be kosher, dill or Granny's extra salty.

It's probably Unc 63 from a technical standpoint, but desirability is lowered by the two prominent marks on the portrait and springbok -- both are at central positions.

All raised elements on a coin have sloping sides. The upper-most part is smaller and the letter or number becomes thicker as one moves toward the coin's field (or "table"). This cambering allows the coin to easily release from the dies, and also promotes longer wear in circulation. In the pictured "S," we are seeing some of the wider part of the letter punch used to add the mintmark to a die. This is easier to see because of the letter's left-to-right curved shape. Some lower case letters, such as "g" in the Times Roman font are worse.

That reminds me....I have a note that a cute girl passed to me in 9th grade social studies. --- Will PMG seal that in a plastic envelope for me with the "Ninth Grade" label?

PS: I suggest you take better photos of obverse and reverse, then post them on the Morgan silver dollar variety site, http://www.vamworld.com/forum/index.php. I'm sure members there will enjoy seeing your coin.

"Pauly6777" As a new poster you might want a little more information about "grease filled dies." The Mints are factories. They happen to make coins, but the machinery operates much the same as any other factory stamping out small metal parts. The area near stamping machines usually has very fine particles of metal sloughed off dies, gears, and other metal parts. The equipment also requires lubrication to reduce friction of one part rubbing against another, and to help raw castings or cuttings move through stamping and other forming processes. For coins, the metal discs, called planchets, are costed with a very thin, light lubricant to help them move smoothly inside the feeding tubes and various mechanical pieces of a coinage press. Over time, lubricants mix particles, common dust and dirt and even bits of fabric. This gradually collects in the recessed parts of dies - such as stars - and the pressure of striking coins compacts this "gunk" into very hard material. As it builds up in a die, it fills recesses until it is level with the die's surface - at that point, the star, numeral, letter or other feature vanishes, and we have merely a normal looking field -- and a missing star or letter. Press operators are trained in cleaning out this gunk before it becomes a problem, but they are not always successful. The clogging is sometimes not noticed until after several hundred coins have been struck. Although attempts are usually made to remove and destroy defective coins, they are not always successful. Enjoy your "12-star" dollar. It's an interesting coin to own and to learn about!

Which "they" do you mean? There are several "grading" companies and each operates a little differently.

They all have a "W." It's in the word "Wilderness...."

Why is VKurtB such a persistent liar? Because that allows him to justify his own ignorance. VKurtB had no role in the trial, pre-trial, depositions, published commentary, research articles or, indeed, anything at all to do with the case -- before, during or after. Such is his "expertise." Has he bothered to read the DE book chapter on 1933 coins? - Unlikely. How about pre- and in-trial bench and chambers consultations? - Was VKurtB present? Was he told about the Court's decisions not in the record? - Nope again. Maybe VKurtB should stop lying and simply admit that he knows nothing. The 1933 DE were legal coins. Some - 25 ($500 face) is as good a number as any - left the Philadelphia Mint. There are no records of theft. There are no records of exchange. There are no anomalous US Mint records. There was no contemporary USSS report or request for investigation. Things were so "ordinary" that the Philadelphia Mint lost most of the June 1933 Annual Settlement records - but what we have, is silent. In my Court statement, I described multiple scenarios about how the coins might have left the Philadelphia Mint. All were possible. All were also unprovable, just as was theft, without contemporary testimony - which did not exist. That some 1933 DE appeared in 1937 is fact, but their source to collectors is no more evidence of "theft" than if Spencer S. Marsh sold 1932 DE to collectors in 1937, or Walter F. Allgeyer sold some 1931 DE, also in 1937 (the year they first appeared at auction). There is another scenario not part of the trial, but it would have been no more supportable than any other.

David Sundman and Co. have a reputation for honesty in an industry that often finds that in short supply. Littleton is a collector starter for coins and stamps. Their prices are fair for their services and they don't "push" merchandise the way others do; they also do not belittle new or average collectors; or run around with a snout high in the air. They are also consistent supporters of ANA and the organization's original purposes. As Mr. Lange noted, the OP's photo is likely a mistake of some sort.

Unfortunately, the same ignorant mentality extends to much more substantive and serious subjects. Go rent the film "Cabaret" and pay attention -- that was 1930, too!

Well.....he was a pretty low-grade president, so I guess his coin follows that mold.

This is not really a good place for non-coin discussions. I'll contribute only the following bits and be done with it. Most coin collectors treat their coins responsibly and understand they are temporary stewards. So it is with most other things. As the potential for harm to ourselves and others increases with the kinds of things we own, so do our individual and social responsibilities in the use and preservation of those things. To hold something in your hands that can instantly kill almost any living thing, is a very high responsibility - one which we daily trivialize in reduction of deaths by firearm, to lists of numbers. Driving a car is similar although not so portable or convenient, and we all have seen the "crazys" on our highways; these people exist with every other kind of object we own. RE: Alex's comment. I took a similar course plus we had a rifle club and target range in my high school in Maryland. My Dad was also adamant about safety and appropriate use of a firearm. They were also very concerned about indiscriminate proliferation of hand guns and other weapons intended only to kill other people. In America, there are so many hand guns and "assault" weapons - good for nothing but killing people - that the irresponsible, unstable, criminal and seditious can easily intimidate and harm others. In that respect, America has among the world's worst record for weapons safety in the world. For a snapshot, look back at the musical "West Side Story" from the mid-1950s -- gang weapons were knives, short swords, chains, all hand-to-hand combat. That one gang member showed up with a "zip gun" was a shock to all, and also indicative of the overall view that there was no place for a hand gun (or 1920s mob automatic weapons) except by legitimate police....where their holding could be tightly controlled. That NRA in it's greed and spinelessness fails to offer "Safe Hunter Courses," and that such formal and cooperative training is no longer required to get a Hunting License, is an indicator of the failure of once-responsible organizations to face the overall harm of their actions. There is no historical or modern record of more non-hunting types of weapons making society safer -- our own American society included. Deaths, intentional and accidental, by handguns or assault-type weapons have risen almost every year since the 1950s --- despite great medical advances that save many who would have died. Hunting accidents remain low: good hunters seem to understand and respect the power they hold in their hands -- they act deliberately with great discrimination -- and nearly all follow-up with proper field-dressing of their targets and use of the meat. Bad hunters usually get bored and look for something more to their attention level -- such as shooting glass bottles. No one can reasonably argue that "guns kill" by themselves - they are inanimate objects. However, the promiscuous access to non-hunting types of guns by anyone, for almost any reason, in almost any place, gives some individuals and deviant groups of social failures the ability to harm others at long range. They want to hide their cowardice behind a thoughtless machine and thus endanger everyone. Every right come with associated responsibilities. Free speech is not the license to yell "Fire!" in a theater; freedom of your person is not the license to barrel through a red stop light or over a kid crossing the street; a right to keep and bear arms is not license to kill with those arms. Likewise, every right is exercised by the individual, and ONLY at the individual's choice. No one can be required by any government or other person to exercise their rights of free speech or assembly; no one can be required to own or use a gun; no one can be required to be a parent or not be a parent; or to incriminate themselves. The ultimate shame is that responsible people - people with otherwise sound judgement - enable and facilitate the irresponsible, criminal, and mentally unstable, thereby costing lives that might otherwise have been spared and possibly contributed to future society.

Commonplace. No value.

Almost everything your see on the internet about "valuable" or "rare" coins is hokum. If you find something interesting, post a good photo here and ask for ideas.

That just means someone put it on a counter and stamped it.....or maybe that glued a postage stamp to it.... (PS: People have rights - and responsibilities - not guns. People have to exercise their rights responsibly; guns just sit around waiting for the next irresponsible person.)