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 Replies: 10 / Views: 3,174 |
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New Member
United States
2 Posts |
I was recently presented what seems to be a 1938-S Washinton quarter. The owner said that he acquired it 40+ years ago in some change from a bank. The images on the obverse and reverse look very accurate, the diameter and thickness are right on, the obverse/reverse orientation is correct, it has a reeded edge, and it is not magnetic. But, it weighs only 4.6 grams. It is not a 90% coin. What is this coin? Is it possible that, in 1938, an aluminum (or other metal) planchet was struck at the mint   ? *** Moved by Staff to a more appropriate forum. *** |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6130 Posts |
In 1938 the Mint only used silver (dime, quarter, half dollar), copper (cent), and cupronickel (nickel) planchets. Coins are struck on wrong-metal planchets on very rare occasions, but this just doesn't look like a "quarter struck on nickel stock" error. My best guesses: 1. It's just beat to heck and back. Give it a "heads or tails" flip compared to a known silver quarter. Silver resonates at a very distinct tone compared to other metals. If it is a tonal match to another silver quarter, your coin is just very heavily worn, accounting for the weight difference. I'm not sure this is likely, since 1.7 grams is a heck of a lot of silver to be worn off and still have a recognizeable coin. 2. It's a fake. If your coin turns out to be made out of aluminum or any other metal, you probably have a counterfeit. How trustworthy was the seller? If you have doubts about his character, he might have fallen for one of those "unopened quarter roll--1938 showing" scams on ebay. A member on here found a 1909-S VDB cent recently that wasn't even a doctored genuine cent but a straight-up fake. Either way, the Mint didn't use zinc until 1943, and didn't use aluminum until the 70s. 3. It's an error coin. I very highly doubt this, but I guess it's possible. We've seen wrong-metal coins from the Mint, and it's not out of the realm of possibilities that a Mint official fed a quarter-sized foreign coin through the machines just to see what would happen--this was the Depression after all. |
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Valued Member
United States
355 Posts |
How does it do on the tissue paper test?
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New Member
 United States
2 Posts |
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Moderator
 United States
187862 Posts |
Click on the automatically added link to the tissue test.  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
36678 Posts |
Looks like a lead counterfeit.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2311 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10034 Posts |
The pics remind me of a cast fake.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3755 Posts |
No clue why anyone would go to the trouble of counterfeiting a relatively common quarter, but they did. That looks fake to me.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
997 Posts |
Ask Mr. Henning about his nickels.
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Pillar of the Community
Korea, Republic Of
1881 Posts |
Quote:
Ask Mr. Henning about his nickels.  I think this one is a contemporary counterfeit, like those lovely "nickels" of Mr. Henning. |
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Replies: 10 / Views: 3,174 |
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Posted 04/11/2014 07:38 am
