Back in 2007 when my 3rd grandchild was born, I purchased both a 2007w uncirculated 1oz Silver Eagle and a 2007 Proof Set from the US Mint.
Upon receiving both items, after a quick glance of the coins I placed them in "her" storage container and added other coins since then.
For some unknown reason I decided to give the coins a closer look last week and noticed a problem on the Montana
State Quarter and concluded that this was a
PSD (post strike damage) Quarter struck on a flawed planchet.
Enclosed are some high resolution photos that allowed me to zoom in on the damaged area. Photos #1 to #4 show the inside edge that is tapered and has a gouge or strike through and photos #5 to #8 show the outside damage on the reeding. At first I thought that the obverse coin die may have been dropped and the die edge chipped prior to installation, and after inspecting under a microscope, believe it to be a planchet flaw, along with some type of scraping.
If this was a coin struck for circulation I would have called it a
PMD coin with counting machine damage, and since this is a Proof coin and packaged inside the Mint, it must have been damaged somewhere between striking and packaging.
I don't know if the proof coins are packaged by hand or machine and can't pinpoint the exact cause, but do know that had I found this back in 2007, I would have returned it.
Note: photos were taken with the cover removed to show only the coin.
Posted 01/29/2013 11:02 pm
