1892 Quarter question - what's up with the lettering?

CarlWohlforth

I have a quarter here that looks like the upper part of both Ss in STATES are filled with metal. Can anyone shed some light on what this is and how it came to be?

merz2

Carl
It looks like a problem with the die.I've seen similar things before.

mgoodm3

Look like die chips to me.

Dennis88

wayneherndon

Yes, it is a die chip.

WH

CarlWohlforth

So part of the die chipped off. It looks rough and that makes sense. I found it a little curious that both Ss were similar, but not exactly the same, while I didn't see this happen anywhere else on the coin. Thanks for the info!

wayneherndon

The indention inside the curls of the S is made with a piece of raised metal on the die. Given how tall it stands up above the rest of the die and how thin it is, it can easily break off after several thousand strikes.

WH

errormaven

I concur with everyone else who has concluded that these are die chips. This portion of the die face forms a relatively narrow pedestal that is prone to fracture.

Casey

I have one of these also. Variety 102- "filled S". Dave99B might be able to provide more information.

Dave99B

Great picture, Carl…

I tend to lean toward die chips as well. It’s not difficult at all to locate 1892s with this odd characteristic. It’s also only been found on 1892 examples with a “Type 1” reverse.

I know of no examples where only one “S” is filled in, which always seemed a bit odd to me.

Dave

CarlWohlforth

I just looked up that coin in the Breen book and, from what I understand I have a type 2, the wing covers more than half the E in UNITED. Breen says the T2 is more common. He doesn't say anything about die chips.

It makes sense to me that if that part of the S is the weakest part of the die, then if one S chips so will the other.

Dave99B

Interesting........can you post a pic of the reverse? Maybe you're onto something here....

Also, can you see any part of the E's center serif? If so, it's a Type 1.

Dave

CarlWohlforth

Below is a full reverse photo. The photos in the Breen book are a little small for me. I can see the center of the E. So do I have a type 1? That is the scarcer of the two types, is that correct?

Dave99B

Correct Carl, it's a Type 1. And yes, Type 2 is more common in '92s.

Dave