Has this error been found before and is it worth getting graded? 0

[LisaH]

I do have some partial pictures but also some full coin pictures as well. I call this error "snake in the tree", but someone told me it might be a dropped "S". I'm not sure if there are more errors on this coin or not, I am new to this and just noticed the error in the tree on this 2017 Missouri quarter.

[Greenstang]

Welcome to the Forum Lisa

I see some Machine Doubling and some damage, but I cannot see your “snake in the tree”. Could you please tell what picture  and location that it appears in. Also even if it is a dropped letter, it would not be worth getting certified. Unless a coin is worth at least $150.00, it does not pay to send in.

[LisaH]

I circled it for you to see. Could you show or tell me where the machine doubling is located? Like I said I'm new to this and not sure about a lot of this stuff.

Edited December 30, 2022 by LisaH

[Hoghead515]

Looks like a very small minor die chip to me. From what I can tell from the picture. These modern coins are completely full of die chips due to poor quality control at the mint. 

[Greenstang]

Thank you, much easier to see.

It does not appear to be a dropped “S”. It looks to be raised instead of incuse plus where would it come from. The only S on the quarter that is even close to that size is the one in the initials and it is different.

Agree with Hoghead, it appears to be a die chi.

Edited December 30, 2022 by Greenstang

[RWB]

It's a "secret" Ozark koala hiding in the trees. These Australian critters were imported long ago to help boost local hunting skills, but so many were missed that they eventually took over the tree tops and learned to eat moonshine mash (plus black walnut and sassafras).

Edited December 30, 2022 by RWB

[RWB]

I agree...it is sad when folk can't hit a koala on the move -- but the 'coons and 'possums did good !

[LisaH]

So it's not worth anything? I'm just curious.

[Sandon]

   I just examined the Ozark Riverways quarters in my 2017 U.S. Mint Uncirculated Coin Set, a.k.a. mint set.  Both the "P" and "D" mint coins in the set show the same depression (which the other members may have interpreted as a raised area indicating a die chip) that @LisaH believes looks like a snake in the tree.  It is apparently intended to show a separation between the leaves on two different branches.  It is not a mint error or irregularity of any sort such as a die chip but part of the design of the coin!  Presumably, it is found on all pieces of this issue from all mints. Sorry, but as a circulated specimen of this issue (203 million minted at Philadelphia alone) it is only worth face value.

   With the mint having issued quarters with multiple reverse designs every year since 1999, it is hard to keep track of the intricacies of the details of each design.  It is advisable to compare different coins of each design before interpreting some feature of a particular coin as an error.

   

  

[JKK]

On 12/30/2022 at 1:47 PM, LisaH said:

So it's not worth anything? I'm just curious.

Not worth a premium, no. Face value. It was a fair question, but the reality is it's not an error.

[Sandon]

    Before looking for errors, which has traditionally been a specialty for more advanced collectors, one needs to know the basics of coin collecting (numismatics). Please see the following post for resources (print and online) for new collectors:

 

[EagleRJO]

On 12/30/2022 at 5:56 PM, JKK said:

but the reality is it's not an error.

@JKKAre you considering what appears to be a die chip as a normal part of the coining process, and therefore not an error.

[VKurtB]

95%+ of the stuff people think are errors, are not. Errors are not that easy to find. Errors with value to them are EXTRAORDINARILY difficult to find. They really aren’t just swimming around out there waiting to be found. 

[EagleRJO]

I know valuable errors are hard to find.  I have a sorting mat with the valuable quarter errors for the roll hunting I have been doing for many years and haven't found anything.  Doesn't mean I will stop looking, you never know.

My question was more if @JKK viewed a die chip, if it was that, as not being an error because it was more just a normal part of the coining process, which is how I would view it.  In my mind anything that is a result of the normal coining process would not be an error, including strikes that have die deterioration with chips, cracks, etc. because that normally occurs, particularly with older dies. That could be a variety, but not an error.

Edited December 31, 2022 by EagleRJO

[J P M]

On 12/30/2022 at 4:47 PM, LisaH said:

So it's not worth anything? I'm just curious.

Sorry to say it does not look like much to me Lisa. It looks more like something stuck on the coin that is magnifying the leaf's of the tree, rather than a die chip. I am always on the hunt for something strange It is part of my coin collecting. Keep looking you may find something one of these days. I can say after 60 years of searching I may have a hand full of true errors. But in my opinion your coin it is nothing that I would considered a variety.