Another fifty cent wonder.

cladking

Unfortunately I can't post a picture but I picked up another clad quarter for 50c.

This one is a 1985-P in truly sad shape. It would be a super slider AU if not for the
fact that the wear is "blotchy" and the coin was struck from very heavily fatigued dies.
Why the dealer would have bothered to card such a coin and offer it for sale is beyond
me. It wouldn't be surprising if this coin had sat in his stock for many years since it's
been that long that AU '85's have been gone from circulation.

What makes this coin of interest is that it is the "small bust" variety. The entire bust
is much smaller than on the normal '85-P and is most easily seen in the distance of the
"E" in "LIBERTY" to the top of Washington's head. It is much farther on the small bust.
In fact, there's room for another bottom crossbar of the "E" on this where there is less
than half that distance on the normal coin.

This coin is something of an enigma to me. Probably fewer than 1/4% of the coins in
circulation are this variety but I keep running into it in dealer's stock. This is most a-
typical for any modern coin simply because most dealers stock comes from mint sets and
this coin (like most modern varieties) does not appear in mint sets. So why do so many
dealers have this particular date from rolls (or circulation). My working theory is that
the coin was released in the Chicago area.

In any case, this coin is probably very scarce in any grade over VF, even very unattractive AU.

SanctionII

Cladking, your posts on the topic of clad coinage are very informative. I enjoy reading them. A question has entered my mind. Have you ever given thought to writing a book on Clad Coinage for 1965 to the present [dimes, quarters, halves and dollars]? CopperCoins wrote a book on Lincolns. A similar book on clads would be a very interesting read and would give a big boost to this area of the hobby. (Perhaps though you would refrain from writing such a book until you have picked all the Clad Cherries from the tree. LOL).

CalGold

<< <i> The entire bust is much smaller than on the normal '85-P and is most easily seen in the distance of the
"E" in "LIBERTY" to the top of Washington's head. It is much farther on the small bust.
In fact, there's room for another bottom crossbar of the "E" on this where there is less
than half that distance on the normal coin. >>



"much" smaller
"much father"

Rather liberal use of the word "much" it would seem if the space is defined by half the thickness of the cross bar of the letter E

I guess I would have thought a "much" smaller bust would have been the size of FDR's bust on the dime.

MrEureka

CladKing - Have you seen examples from an early (non-fatigued) die state?

cladking

<< <i>Cladking, your posts on the topic of clad coinage are very informative. I enjoy reading them. A question has entered my mind. Have you ever given thought to writing a book on Clad Coinage for 1965 to the present [dimes, quarters, halves and dollars]? CopperCoins wrote a book on Lincolns. A similar book on clads would be a very interesting read and would give a big boost to this area of the hobby. (Perhaps though you would refrain from writing such a book until you have picked all the Clad Cherries from the tree. LOL). >>



LOL.

In the early days I had a crazy notion of getting them all but it didn't take long to realize
it's an impossibility and self defeating. It is demand that makes any collectible desirable
and causes the supply to evaporate and the demand would never exist if people weren't
aware of what coins existed and which were difficult to find. It's an impossibility because
all these coins were far too widely distributed in order for anyone to gather them up. The
logistics of such an endeavor would be incredible. Even getting a significant percentage
would require a tremendous amount of effort and huge amounts of time. Money would be
no small problem either since travel has always been expensive.

I will write a book at least about the quarters eventually but this is not a natural activity
for me (11,000 posts notwithstanding). There are some impediments to me tackling the
project at this time, not the least of which is the fact that it would sell very few copies.

You're no doubt correct though, that it would be a huge boost to the hobby.

Thanks for the compliment but don't watch for the book within the next year or two probably.

cladking

<< <i>

"much" smaller
"much father"

Rather liberal use of the word "much" it would seem if the space is defined by half the thickness of the cross bar of the letter E

I guess I would have thought a "much" smaller bust would have been the size of FDR's bust on the dime. >>



Perhaps there is a little hyperbole involved with the use of the word "much". The bust is
smaller in all directions though so its area is affected more than just the greatest difference
would indicate. It is visable from a distance so it's not as though you'll need a glass to spot it.

cladking

<< <i>CladKing - Have you seen examples from an early (non-fatigued) die state? >>



I've found about a dozen of them including a couple uncs. This one is far and away
from the most worn die. The best strike is on a nice XF but one of the uncs is choice.

This may be a hubbing variety but is still pretty dramatic. There are probably at least
two or three dies which made these but it's difficult to tell with circs.

UncleWiggly

I use to think clads were boring until I read this thread. Someone mentioned about you writing a book. Are you? Is there a book already out on clads?


Jerry

cladking

There are several good books on clads. The first specific one was in 1986 and the first
general one was Rapsus's "US Clad Coinage" in 1992. Wiles has the book on Kennedys
which is among the best and there are no fewer than three on Ikes. While there is still
no book out on the quarters, there is some mention of them in Fiegenbaum's work on Wash-
ingtons and even in Breen.

There is also a pretty new book on the roosy's by Flynn. Of course the Cherrypicker's Guide
and The RPM Book list some clads also.

cladking

...And it was announced in the Sept. 20, '04 Coin World that Q David Bowers himself is writing one
on the states issues. Check out his column in this issue- - it's another classic.