SLQ
Landon6
Posts: 157 ✭✭✭
Why do Standing Liberty Quarters dates where off so easily
1
Landon6
Posts: 157 ✭✭✭
Comments
Until 1925 the date was a high point subject to wear. Same notion with the Buffalo nickel: the design was changed to reduce wear (recessed date).
Lance.
As Lance said above...Also, they were common pocket change back then, and silver wears easily under those conditions. Cheers, RickO
Very good question.
Answers as above.
If I am not mistaken, the same concerns are the reason for 1913 Type 2 Buffalo nickels when the FIVE CENTS was altered so it was not on top of the mound (the mound was actually changed).
Even after the date was recessed in 1925 it was still subjected to heavy wear and often disappeared by the time the coins left circulation in the mid-1960s.
As others have said, it had to do with the way the date was positioned on the coin. Here are photos of two Mint State coins.
Check out how the date is positioned on this 1920 quarter. Note how it is on a flat surface with very little protection for it. That's why it wore off quickly.
Sometimes the date was weak from the start. The date on this 1920 quarter was not struck well. It's weak inspite of the fact that the coin is in Almost Uncirculated (AU) condition.
In 1925, the design was changed so that the date got more protection. Notice the way the date is in an indented area on this coin.
In Mega Red 5th edition, a Numismatic Scrapbook study was referenced. 5,000 quarters were taken from circulation during 1938 (only 22 years from the beginning of the SLQ series). There were 100 Type 1 quarters 1916 - 1917 and 15% had dates. There were 1,422 Type 2 quarters from 1917 - 1924 and only 3% had dates!
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
It's a little known fact that the date was also modified on the 1913 Variety 2 nickel, as is referenced here from the Feb 1914 issue of the "Numismatist."