Quarter on dime stock error?

mcmxi

how does this happen and what would it be worth? I saw one today and thought it was neat. Had no idea of its value so I passed. Oh it is a 1970-D in anacs AU55

Russ

These are not worth as much as a quarter struck on a dime planchet. I sold a couple raw ones and they brought about $20 each.

Russ, NCNE

mcmxi

I should trim it down then?

cladking

They were feeding the stock through slits in the wall at the Denver mint in 1970-'72. The operator
would call for a specific stock but there were apparently communication problems and the wrong
stock would be fed. This was a major problem in 1970 and large numbers of quarter planchets were
blanked on dime stock and then upset and coined. It wouldn't be surprising if the mintage exceeded
100,000. Attrition was high initially as they were a nuisance and some would be discarded. They
didn't circulate since they won't go through vending machines so many probably ended up going back
to the FED for destruction.

The '71-D issue is much tougher and I've never actually seen a '72-D though there are reports. Most
specimens are lightly circulated and worn coins are rarely seen. Uncs aren't tough but often appear
AU because of the weak strikes from dies set up to strike a thicker planchet.

$20 is probably a fair price but you might be able to find one for less.

CaptHenway

<< <i>how does this happen and what would it be worth? I saw one today and thought it was neat. Had no idea of its value so I passed. Oh it is a 1970-D in anacs AU55 >>



The how did it happen is that a large coil of clad metal already rolled to dime thickness was placed on a blanking machine punching out quarter-sized planchets. Nobody caught the error, and many thousands of them went out into circulation.

Dimes struck on quarter thickness stock are also known. They were discovered when the phone company in some city (Boston?) got reports of numerous jammed pay phones. The phone company discovered that too-thick coins were getting stuck.

TD

mcmxi

Thank you for such a complete response. i have come to expect nothing less from you.

shaney777

cladking and CaptHenway, do y'all happen to know of a resource that details estimated rarity for the different years+mints of dime stock quarters? I recall coming across something like this but forgot and haven't been able to locate it again.

jonathanb

1970-D is the only common-ish date. Prices have gone up significantly since this thread was originally posted, closer to $100 than $20 now.

On the other hand, these aren't very popular because they're not "showy". It can be hard to find a buyer.