Looking through the errors and variety coins in an upcoming Heritage auction I found this coin. It's certified by PCGS as "Stk on Experimental Planchet" Cert. #30000751. The current bid is $1050 ($1260 with Buyer's Premium) with 13 days left in the auction!
The description on this lot reads...
Quote:1999-P 25C New Jersey Quarter -- Struck on an Experimental Planchet -- MS68 PCGS. Manganese alloy planchets for the newfangled "golden" dollar apparently arrived at the Philadelphia Mint before their intended target, the
Sacagawea dollar dies. Mint workers instead tested the planchets using
Statehood Quarter dies. Only a handful of examples are known for each of the five statehood types. The present piece has raised rims, and the peripheral legends are normally struck, without the stretching often encountered on the experimental planchet strikes. The well struck apricot-gold surfaces are immaculate and semiprooflike. The flan is mildly granular throughout E PLURIBUS UNUM, as made.
My question is that when a member of CCF post a coin of the correct date and design, how can we tell if it's simply toned or possibly plated from those images? In reading the description above, I understand that the planchets are slightly smaller than the normal quarter so some stretching may be visible.
I know that I will respond with a detailed explanation of what these coins are and how rare they are. I will also note that it may not be possible to say if it IS the experimental planchet or not just from images.