Weight Variation Of Capped Bust Quarters

The Red Book has them at 6.74 grams. .4 grams seems a bit much to me, but this is not my specialty.

That's 6% underweight and an XF coin shouldn't be that light. How accurate is your scale? Since it's a crack-out, authenticity shouldn't be an issue. My guess is it was a touch under legal weight at the mint, lost a couple tenths and your scale is off a bit.

It is definitely below the tolerance level (+/- .06 grams) It is enough to raise questions, but underweight pieces are possible so weight alone would not be enough reason to condemn it. It is good reason to examine it closely though.



Squeezing a coin out thinner and broader than normal would not result in weight differences. You also have to remember that back then each planchet, and each finished coin was weighed to make sure it was legal weight. Heavy planchets were filed down, off weight coins and light planchets were rejected and remelted. This makes off weight coins rather unusual.

Thanks for clearing that up Condor, my comment was geared more towards the difference in size. I too would question the coin if it is off by weight.