Post the lowest grade clad coin you have.
Blackborder
Posts: 2,797 ✭
I got a 1971 quarter the other day in change that probably graded VG and I started wondering if any clad coins have worn down to AG yet.
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to AG and 1971 quarters are a good example of the phenomenon.
Most of the '71 quarters have strike weakness near the rim on
the reverse caused by the dies not being in the same line during
the strike. This forces the coin into a sort of wedge shape and
there will not be enough metal on the thick side to fully form the
rim. The result is that as soon as there is any wear it will appear
that the lettering is worn into the rim. This normally occurs on the
reverse but it depends on which die is more out of line to the move-
ment of the obverse die so some have the effect on the obverse
instead.
Some dates are simply notorius for this. The problem can be exas-
cerbated by overuse of dies and weak strike pressure. '66 and '69
quartters are among the worst but it's a problem throughout the
early clads. Well struck examples were extremely elusive and if
you did find a nicely made one it would generally be mangled by the
mint processing equipment. Even mint set coins are no solution
because strikes can even be poor here. '69-D quarters, for instance,
come extremely nice in the sets and all are struck by good dies. Ma-
ny are quite clean but fully struck coins can be elusive.
are that the coins are found in change and that they have no damage and honest
wear. I won't use any coin that was obviosly weakly struck or was struck by very
worn dies. Some likely had severe strike issues but all tell tale signs have to be
worn away. These are the most heavily worn coins for the date in all cases.
Early dates tend to be VG's with a smattering of G's and they are F's by the late '70's.
VF's start showing up in the mid-'80's.
These actually look fairly good next to much of the garbage you see everyday but
they do have a lot of wear.
Hoard the keys.