Polished Die? Or Die Wear? Or Something Else? (Caution to dial-uppers.)

[astrostu]

I thought I'd see what buying quarters from the Mint was like and so bought a bag of $25 worth of Nebraska D and a bag of P. I just got to looking through the Denver ones tonight, and over half of them looked like the image below.

 

Note the "MER" in "AMERICA" on the obverse and "K" in "CHIMNEY ROCK" on the reverse. Basically, it looks like most of those letters are partially erased. I'm not really up-to-date on my error coins 'cause I don't really collect them, but to me this seems like either a die that was polished too many times or just a really worn out die. Any ideas? And is it worth anything special, or did I just get a bag of crummy quarters?

 

[EZ_E]

Most likely some of the recessed portions of the die were clogged with grease which prevented the transfer of detail.

 

My guess is that you just have a bag full of crummy quarters.

[cpm9ball]

I agree with Victor. In all likelihood, they were the result of a debris-filled die. A small amount of grease on the die from the machinery can collect debris which is then compacted to the point that the incuse areas of the die seem to disappear during striking.

 

On accasion, this can produce some interesting results if the hardened debris should work its way loose from the die and cause a strike-through on another area of the coin. Some time ago, I sent a '73-D Lincoln cent to Billy Crawford that looked like it had a strike-through resulting from a dropped element. Billy pointed out specific die markers to me and I was able to find two or three more of the cents, none of which had the strike-through, but they all showed signs of a debris-filled die. It is quite possible that these were struck shortly before the dropped element caused the strike-through.

 

If you have the time and inclination, go through the quarters again. Who knows, you may just find a strike-through from a dropped element. It would be really neat if you found some of the lettering impressed into the coin. Sometimes the debris will remain embedded in the coin. If you should find one like this, don't try to remove the debris. Leave it as is.

 

Chris

[Die Varieties]

astrostu: Victor and Chris are right on the money. I got a roll of those new Jeff nicks and they look like #$#%$#(Y#.

 

Interesting coincidence that Chris should mention his 73-D cent. His 73-D cent along with a nice looking dropped letter error on a states quarters will be in the next issue of Die Variety News Vol. 1 No. 2 coming up shortly as well as two MAJOR discoveries to report.

[EZ_E]

If you have the time and inclination, go through the quarters again. Who knows, you may just find a strike-through from a dropped element. It would be really neat if you found some of the lettering impressed into the coin. Sometimes the debris will remain embedded in the coin. If you should find one like this, don't try to remove the debris. Leave it as is.

 

Excellent recommendation! If you could find a strike-through from a dropped element then it would make it all worthwhile!

[James_OldeTowne]

This looks like a "filled-die" error to me as well. Grease, or something like that, got on the die and clogged up some of the details.

 

James

[astrostu]

Sigh. I thought as much. Thanks for the speedy replies.

 

 

On accasion, this can produce some interesting results if the hardened debris should work its way loose from the die and cause a strike-through on another area of the coin. Some time ago, I sent a '73-D Lincoln cent to Billy Crawford that looked like it had a strike-through resulting from a dropped element. Billy pointed out specific die markers to me and I was able to find two or three more of the cents, none of which had the strike-through, but they all showed signs of a debris-filled die. It is quite possible that these were struck shortly before the dropped element caused the strike-through.

 

If you have the time and inclination, go through the quarters again. Who knows, you may just find a strike-through from a dropped element. It would be really neat if you found some of the lettering impressed into the coin. Sometimes the debris will remain embedded in the coin. If you should find one like this, don't try to remove the debris. Leave it as is.

 

Lemme see if I have this right: Something (probably grease or dirt) got stuck in the die. What Chris is suggesting is that that hardened grease/dirt/whatever might have sprung loose and as a result, could have punched the "missing letters" somewhere else on that face? So I should go through the bag again and search for some imprints of either a "K" on the reverse or "MER" on the obverse?

[cpm9ball]

Sigh. I thought as much. Thanks for the speedy replies.

 

 

On accasion, this can produce some interesting results if the hardened debris should work its way loose from the die and cause a strike-through on another area of the coin. Some time ago, I sent a '73-D Lincoln cent to Billy Crawford that looked like it had a strike-through resulting from a dropped element. Billy pointed out specific die markers to me and I was able to find two or three more of the cents, none of which had the strike-through, but they all showed signs of a debris-filled die. It is quite possible that these were struck shortly before the dropped element caused the strike-through.

 

If you have the time and inclination, go through the quarters again. Who knows, you may just find a strike-through from a dropped element. It would be really neat if you found some of the lettering impressed into the coin. Sometimes the debris will remain embedded in the coin. If you should find one like this, don't try to remove the debris. Leave it as is.

 

Lemme see if I have this right: Something (probably grease or dirt) got stuck in the die. What Chris is suggesting is that that hardened grease/dirt/whatever might have sprung loose and as a result, could have punched the "missing letters" somewhere else on that face? So I should go through the bag again and search for some imprints of either a "K" on the reverse or "MER" on the obverse?

 

You make it sound like it's drudgery. I've gone through bags numerous times because I heard of a new discovery. I should also point out that a strike-through from a dropped element doesn't necessarily have to be a complete letter or letters. It could be a remnant when it breaks apart.

 

Chris

[astrostu]

Sorry, Chris. For stuff like this I'm best with clear, step-by-step directions, which is why I spelled it out as such to verify what to look for. I'll admit that doing so often makes it seem less interesting. But as someone who used to count the change from the band's soda machine searching for a few quarters (I counted out well over $5000 in coins my senior year in High School doing this), going through one bag of 100 is a piece of cake ... I just wanted to make sure I knew what to look for.

[cpm9ball]

Sorry, Chris. For stuff like this I'm best with clear, step-by-step directions, which is why I spelled it out as such to verify what to look for. I'll admit that doing so often makes it seem less interesting. But as someone who used to count the change from the band's soda machine searching for a few quarters (I counted out well over $5000 in coins my senior year in High School doing this), going through one bag of 100 is a piece of cake ... I just wanted to make sure I knew what to look for.

 

[EZ_E]

I remember about a year ago Coin World had an article where the "D" mintmark was clogged, the debris fell out and incused another "D" mintmark right above the normal "D" on a Jefferson nickel. Personally, I don't care much about most error coins but this one fascinated me. I think that it would be worth the effort to search the bags. Relatively speaking, you may have decent odds on finding a dropped letter, incused strike. If it's cool enough, you may even become famous for a day.

[cpm9ball]

If it's cool enough, you may even become famous for a day.

 

Who was that masked man? Aw, who cares, let's have another drink. Set 'em up bartender!

 

Chris