Hello. I have a 1996 D Washington quarter that I found in circulation. A quick google search pulls up another 1996 D Washington quarter was found in circulation on the wrong metal and wanted anyone’s opinion on it. First photo is a stock photo of a quarter the same year and the second is the quarter I have. I noticed Washington’s braids seemed to have a different die pattern to them. The third photo shows the raised surfaces next to Washington’s nose and below his chin. The coin is underweight and currently weighs 5.4g. Also when dropped on a hard surface it has a noticeably lower pitch ring then the copper-nickel clad counterpart. Now I know Denver (D) didn’t produce silver coins for circulation that year. Anybody’s help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Hello. Originally posted this in the what’s it worth category and didn’t see we had a dedicated error thread. Anyways I found a 1996 D quarter in circulation that originally caught my attention due to when I threw it in my change jar I swear I heard the sound of silver and noted that this quarter made a silver sound rather than the higher ring of the copper nickel clad. It is a tad bit underweight at 5.4g and it has a bubbling look to it on the obverse at the 9 o’clock position in front on Washington’s nose as well as below his chin. Also like to note that Washington’s braid is different than a regular quarter of the same year. Maybe a possible die variation? First picture is a stock photo of a quarter and the last 3 are of the coin in questioning. Thank you all!
My guess is a coin subjected to high heat. I have a bunch of mutilated quarters and they sound different and weigh a little less. I’ll wait for others to chime in.
Damaged.. Not a Mint Error not silver and not a variation. As stated, heat damage will affect the Clad layer. By the way, on your first thread on the "what's it worth" forum you put 1994 instead of 1996.. always review your title also before creating a thread.
I'll go along with heat damage, although I think we've also seen some actual counterfeit modern Washington quarters (why?) posted here. If you want, you can hit the Report link on the first post you made, and ask the moderators to remove it or merge it into this thread. Welcome to CoinTalk!
Ummm........Doesn't silver produce a higher-pitched ring and clad produces a dull thud? Are you sure your quarter didn't hit the glass jar? Chris
Thank you all. I was unaware that quarters would “bubble” like that due to high heat exposure. It definitely has a different hue to it once I brought it out into the sunlight which it’s more of a dull color instead of having any sort of original mint luster. After taking into consideration of what you said it only makes sense that it’s been heated at some point. I love collecting errors (especially off metals) and thought I had gotten lucky with this one. Thanks again!
From what I see in those pictures, your coin looks normal. To be struck in a different metal, it would have to either be on a proof planchet or a planchet of another denomination (US or foreign). Your coin doesn't have the mirror-like fields of a proof and its very unlikely that it was struck on anything other than a quarter planchet (the diameter would be off unless the planchet just happened to have the same diameter as a quarter). The reason your coin weighs about 0.2g underweight is probably because of some sort of environmental damage. I think you're looking at something that isn't there and I'm 99.99% certain your coin is a regular quarter.
I also jave almost the same coin and not sure what i have. Any ideas yet ? Thanks [Email removed by moderator per forum rules. You'll need to post pictures of your coin in its own thread.]
