Newbie seeking knowledge on determining mint vs PMD 1 1

[Rollingmyown]

 I'll start by thanking you all for the knowledge that I have already gained the last several days by reading your posts and comments on here. If the pictures I attached are sub-par then i do apologize and I can resubmit new ones. All I have is my phone camera. I'm sitting rolling up my own, at a table infront of five years worth of daily pocket change that have been piliing onto the top of my dresser as i return home from work and semiannual scraping off into a plastic tub. I'm not looking for that million dollar coin. Money is a little tight these days and I refuse to pay 10-12% on the dollar for a machine to count it for me. And now with new found hobby, I would never dump this many coins into a coin star without doing the quick check/toss into check later pile, I have a dates cheat sheet as I continue to roll my own. 

Thanks to you all, I just recently learned about the circle of death PMD. (Only abbreviation I know) and that allowed me to quickly whittle down my possible mint damaged pile to just this one 1983 Quarter. I haven't even started rolling the other three coins. I can now completely understand the draw or addiction to this investigation type of 'what caused this damage' pastime that I'm now hooked on. Thanks alot. Lol. 

Honestly I'm not asking for an appraisal of value of this coin. I just want to know if I'm on track in determining mint damage vs PMD in general. Or should i toss this coin into the roll up pile also? 

This one doesn't have the Shiney sharp looking circular cut like the roll machines leave behind. And not a perfect circle as It has the same shape or curvature and size as the edge of coin itself. This dent like mark is beneath the "in God we trust" letters and under the "1" and  "9" on 1993. It does not cross the edge of the  coin either as runs off. The back of the coin has some dented and not fully pressed out letters. The coin itself is bent at the top mostly. Sorry im sure your aware  how difficult it can be to capture this type of damage with a picture.  But holding it in hand tilting it around shows alot of things going on here that are not visible in pictures.  

And i apologize for being so long winded. I'm all jacked up on mountain dew and Black Rifle coffee. Any advise is welcome. You wont hurt my feelings. Im just trying to see if I'm on track with this one type of damage. I've got a long way to go to learn what you all probably know instantly when you see it and im 58yrs old so me catching up is not going happen anyway.   Thanks

Edited May 28 by Rollingmyown
Pics didn't attach

[Sandon]

   Welcome to the NGC chat board. 

   Your 1983-P quarter does not exhibit any mint error. It has both circulation wear (Extremely Fine or so condition) and has numerous nicks and scratches from contact with other coins and objects. It was likely struck from worn dies, as many of this issue were, which explains the flatness and blurriness of some of the letters. I can see nothing unusual beneath "IN GOD WE TRUST" or the "19" of the date.  Although quarters and some coins from 1983 (and 1982) are worth a nice premium in or close to uncirculated grades because the mint did not sell uncirculated coin sets in those years, a 1983-P quarter with this much wear and damage is still only worth face value.

   If you save any coins from your accumulation of change, it should be those that appear to have been taken from fresh, uncirculated rolls, not worn, beat up pieces like this. It is extremely unusual to find any significant error coin in change; I've never found one in 53 years as a collector, and I only know of one other collector who ever has. Moreover, mint errors are an advanced topic requiring more basic knowledge about U.S. coins, such as types, dates, mints, major varieties, grading and especially how coins are manufactured.  Please see the following forum topics for legitimate print and online resources from which you may obtain such knowledge:

   Your education should also include attendance at such venues as coin shows and coin club meetings, where you can examine a variety of coins and speak with experienced collectors and dealers.

[JKK]

First, you will do yourself a great service by assuming PMD in all cases of odd appearance, making the coins essentially innocent until proven guilty by conclusive evidence. That's the opposite of what most new arrivals do, driven by bouts of pariedolia. Your introduction shows that you do not want to be those people, which is good. You'll learn more and be less embarrassed, and it'll be obvious to regulars that you're worth helping.

Second: most important thing you can do is learn how minting happens, starting from the ingredients that make up hubs then dies, and that go into creating planchets. It matters a great deal that minting technologies and metal choices have changed in our lifetimes, and this has affected the error potential. This matters hugely because if you follow what I said above, and look at every coin with skepticism, you'll ask yourself how could this possibly have occurred at the mint? If you know how minting happened in that coin's timeframe, you will be equipped to make a reasonable assessment (which most of the time will be "it couldn't; moving on").

You can't know if they did it wrong until you understand what doing it right looked like.