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Unfilled Planchet? PMD?

Hello there! I’m very new to this website and collecting as a whole, so excuse any errors I may make but I figured this was a good place to ask for advice so I’m giving it a shot!

I received this quarter as change for a slice of pizza a few years ago and well…clearly it’s not right! Now I know that some folks like to sand down coins and try to forge errors which was my initial thought especially since the back is par for the course, but this just seems different?

The space around Washingtons face is completely smooth, just regular circulation scratches that are near microscopic. The edge is completely smooth too. Another thing that makes it so strange is it’s INCREDIBLY light, I’d say half the weight of a regular quarter and more like a token.

Let me know what you think! Is it a genuine error or was someone really bored?

Comments

  • MarkKelleyMarkKelley Posts: 1,749 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Sorry to say, but this coin was filed down after it left the mint. It has no numismatic value.

  • gumby1234gumby1234 Posts: 5,404 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Welcome to the forum. Its definitely not a mint error. Someone was bored and messed with it.

    Successful BST with ad4400, Kccoin, lablover, pointfivezero, koynekwest, jwitten, coin22lover, HalfDimeDude, erwindoc, jyzskowsi, COINS MAKE CENTS, AlanSki, BryceM

  • jonathanbjonathanb Posts: 3,411 ✭✭✭✭✭

    For the original poster: now explain why everyone else is so sure about their answers.

  • NysotoNysoto Posts: 3,759 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The concentric lathe marks are too obvious to pass off as an error.

    Robert Scot: Engraving Liberty - biography of US Mint's first chief engraver
  • Glen2022Glen2022 Posts: 840 ✭✭✭✭

    @jonathanb said:
    For the original poster: now explain why everyone else is so sure about their answers.

    Great idea!! Many times a question is asked by a newer collector (me included) and answered by one who has many years of experience. Often times the answer does not explain the reason for the answer. I think it would be extremely helpful to explain the reason for the response, if possible.

  • jonathanbjonathanb Posts: 3,411 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Actually I'd prefer for the original poster to explain the other responses. They should have all the info they need. And if they don't, this is a good way to find out.

  • ifthevamzarockinifthevamzarockin Posts: 8,498 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Welcome to the forum! :)

    PMD, Dryer coin.

  • e@ifthevamzarockin said:
    Welcome to the forum! :)

    PMD, Dryer coin.

    Thank you!

    If it were a dryer quarter wouldn’t both sides be really worn down? And not just the middle of one side?🤔

  • @MarkKelley said:
    Sorry to say, but this coin was filed down after it left the mint. It has no numismatic value.

    How would someone go about filing it this way? It just seems too clean?

  • @Nysoto said:
    The concentric lathe marks are too obvious to pass off as an error.

    What does that mean? 🤔

  • johnny9434johnny9434 Posts: 27,410 ✭✭✭✭✭

    It a quarter fwiw 🙃

  • jonathanbjonathanb Posts: 3,411 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 21, 2022 2:38PM

    @Galaga1987 said:

    @Nysoto said:
    The concentric lathe marks are too obvious to pass off as an error.

    What does that mean? 🤔

    When a coin is struck, in which direction does the metal flow?

    A. Inward from the edge to the center
    B. Clockwise around the center
    C. Counterclockwise around the center
    D. Outward from the center to the edge
    E. Trick question! Everyone knows that metal doesn't flow

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Galaga1987 ... Welcome aboard. Your coin has Post Mint Damage (PMD). Likely intentional, but could also have been caught in the mechanics of a dryer. The obverse does have marks indicating the wear. Such a coin could not possibly happen at the Mint. Cheers, RickO

  • NysotoNysoto Posts: 3,759 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Nysoto "The concentric lathe marks are too obvious to pass off as an error."
    @Galaga1987 "What does that mean? 🤔

    Google "metal lathe." The coin is lighter because much of the obverse has been worked off, or "turned" on a lathe. There are "concentric" marks, or faint circles in the metal from the lathe work starting from the remaining central design and going outward to the beveled edge. After the lathe operation, the coin would have a machined appearance and would need to be roughed up to appear circulated, which could be done in several ways, including just carrying in a pocket for a few months.

    Robert Scot: Engraving Liberty - biography of US Mint's first chief engraver
  • These responses are very disappointing, was really hoping I hadn’t kept it around for nothing all this time. Guess I’ll just throw it in the garbage or local pond so some poor sucker doesn’t get tricked like I did.

  • jesbrokenjesbroken Posts: 9,151 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Regardless of the dryer theory, which is possible, people do weird things to coins, sometimes for no reason other than boredom. Since the earliest days of coins, people have bit them, bent them, cut initials in them, carved etchings in them, placed them in vises and presses, cut holes in them, made rings of them and so, so many other things, sometimes just for the fun of it or bored, such as prison folk who made hobo nickels and the like. Once you actually learn the minting process, you will know and usually at a glance that many things that are done to coins can never be done during the minting process.
    Welcome to the forum and surely you will not let one pmd quarter ruin your love for the hobby.
    Jim


    When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln

    Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
  • NysotoNysoto Posts: 3,759 ✭✭✭✭✭

    No need to be disappointed. There are hundreds of similar threads - error or PMD?

    Interesting things can be done to coins on a lathe https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1076369/the-making-of-a-magicians-coin

    Robert Scot: Engraving Liberty - biography of US Mint's first chief engraver
  • jmlanzafjmlanzaf Posts: 31,614 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Galaga1987 said:

    e@ifthevamzarockin said:
    Welcome to the forum! :)

    PMD, Dryer coin.

    Thank you!

    If it were a dryer quarter wouldn’t both sides be really worn down? And not just the middle of one side?🤔

    Depends on where it was stuck. If the coin is stuck in a fixed position but something is moving past it on one side, it will only be worn down on one side.

    The concentric circles suggest that the coin itself was positioned at the center of the rotating object, hence the "lathe" suggestion.

  • jmlanzafjmlanzaf Posts: 31,614 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Galaga1987 said:

    e@ifthevamzarockin said:
    Welcome to the forum! :)

    PMD, Dryer coin.

    Thank you!

    If it were a dryer quarter wouldn’t both sides be really worn down? And not just the middle of one side?🤔

    Depends on where it was stuck. If the coin is stuck in a fixed position but something is moving past it on one side, it will only be worn down on one side.

    The concentric circles suggest that the coin itself was positioned at the center of the rotating object, hence the "lathe" suggestion.

  • jmlanzafjmlanzaf Posts: 31,614 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Galaga1987 said:
    These responses are very disappointing, was really hoping I hadn’t kept it around for nothing all this time. Guess I’ll just throw it in the garbage or local pond so some poor sucker doesn’t get tricked like I did.

    You got it in change. I'm not sure you were "tricked". It's a novelty. Some people enjoy it as a novelty.

  • OldhoopsterOldhoopster Posts: 2,930 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Galaga1987 said:
    These responses are very disappointing, was really hoping I hadn’t kept it around for nothing all this time. Guess I’ll just throw it in the garbage or local pond so some poor sucker doesn’t get tricked like I did.

    If you learned something from this thread, then there's no reason to be disappointed.

    Keep studying and learning the minting process. The more you learn about it, the more you'll be able to recognize PMD (lots and lots of junk in circulation) from true errors and varieties (not many in circulation)

    Member of the ANA since 1982
  • Namvet69Namvet69 Posts: 8,620 ✭✭✭✭✭

    And put it in a flip to remind you what pmd can appear as. Peace Roy

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