1966 Washington Quarter - GTG (Revealed) and Several Questions
CPJ
Posts: 78 ✭✭✭
I've been working on imaging one of my newer acquisitions, and have finally reached the point where I'm reasonably happy with the result. This one took a while in order to balance the in hand champagne toning, luster, and to bring out the details of the relief and flow lines properly. I'll follow-up with the assigned grade Monday evening or Tuesday for those who want to give it a shot.
There are two questions I have for the wizards on the forum:
1) What would be the cause of the softness seen, especially the reverse? One of the A's is totally filled in, and several of the others are partially. Is this simple die wear, or is there another explanation?
2) This shot has a TrueView. I cannot seem to remove it from the registry. I've now deselected the option to import these in my preferences, but I can't figure out how to remove the existing ones. I'll post the TrueView along with the GTG result.
Any input is appreciated. Thanks!
The grade is MS67, and here is the TrueView. From the aesthetic standpoint, I think the TrueView has a better look for this coin, although it does exaggerate some of the appearance elements from how it looks in hand. The toning gradients weren't apparent with ambient lighting or with several of the lighting setups I tried.
Comments
Maybe grease filled? Maybe just worn out dies, but no cracks that I can see.
First thought for me is a late die state.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
Yep-a worn die is what I'll say. Note the "orange peel" effect in the fields.
MS 1966 Business Strike quarters usually exhibit the appearance of the pictured coin (I think the pictured coin is a high quality example of this date) and are not very attractive compared to other early clad quarters. A soft, mushy appearance that is likely the result of multiple factors that came into play during the minting process.
I expect clad quarter collectors (i.e. Cladking, Wondercoin and others) will post a reply that will explain how 1966 quarters came to look as they do.
Love the right portion (5:o'clock)of his tail feathers. Some gone to the left than detail to the right.
"Jesus died for you and for me, Thank you,Jesus"!!!
--- If it should happen I die and leave this world and you want to remember me. Please only remember my opening Sig Line.Looks like extensive die wear on both sides. Perhaps the raised feature of the die that should have made the hole in the A chipped off entirely! I like the look of this coin, even if the Mint was stretching this die's life a little long.
I hadn't noticed that, but it's real. In hand, the left most tail feathers are very soft while some detail persists on the right.
Certainly appears to be die wear... soft features and the fields have the orange peel look....Cheers, RickO
I gotta tell ya: I really like this one.
1966 was smack dab in the middle of the coin shortage. Quality, die life and strike took a back seat to production.
It's a wonder more 1965-67 coins don't look that bad.
Pete
What @BuffalolronTail said.
Thanks all for the feedback on the condition and the die state leading to it. That's very educational, and I'm glad I asked as it gives me valuable background information.
I'll post the grade and TrueView tomorrow or Tuesday if anyone want to take a guess.
My guess on grade would be 65.
TurtleCat Gold Dollars
Looks really mark free- I'd guess 67
Collector, occasional seller
MS65... Worn die.
Here's one of my ms65... Orange peel effect, similar to the OP
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Well, it's a nice well centered coin which is very unusual for the date. Most specimens have letters that blend right into the rim on the reverse, obverse, or both.
To catch up with demand of coins the mint used very low pressure to reduce die wear. Then they still wore the die away to a nub. Some of these were a little better struck but then the dies were still used far beyond their serviceable life. As bad as the dies were when they made this coin it's one of the better for the date; nothing exceptional, of course.
It's a tough date to find in BU because quality was so bad few bothered. Then when no demand materialized for the new clad coins most of the early quarters were just spent to recoup the $10/ roll.
Here is an image of the doubled die reverse for the date, an outstanding Stage A, or early die state, courtesy of VarietyVista. I used to have a Stage C.
Interesting to see the difference. Thanks for sharing!
Not very many marks but subdued luster (which I like but the market doesn't) and deteriorated dies would limit it to 65, 65+ IMO.
I’ll guess ms 66. The obverse has the look of a higher grade, but for the soft strike. The reverse has a couple of small hits on the eagle’s legs. This is an attractive coin with very few contact marks.
The grade and TrueView are now posted in the original message. @ChrisH821 hit this one with the 67 grade. The Trueview makes this coin look better, although I never could see those details in hand or with several types of lighting. Something to strive for.