To Phrase a Coin
The state quarters get sillier. Maybe it's my Original 13 bias, but I think the older states have a certain historical gravitas that the newer ones can't match, and that makes the commemoratives from the later states tend toward lightweight. I mean, here in Pa., we joked about putting a cheesesteak on the quarter, but we didn't actually do it.
Wisconsin did, though. It used its moment in the national numismatic spotlight to associate its good name with the makings of a half-decent cheesesteak -- grain, beef, and cheese. All you need is sauce and onions.
I laughed out loud when I saw my first Wisconsin quarter. Corn? Did they really want to be the corny state? A cow chanting "forward"?
Now, it turns out, there are errors on some of them.
I'm suspicious. The state quarters are a marketing ploy (as are all commemoratives). And error coins are valuable; collectors scoop them up, and the awareness of them is free PR for the mint and an incentive for the public to seek out the coins. Granted, the government, and the money supply, don't need PR. But if you know where the damaged coins are going, and you manage to position yourself to get some of them -- well, the messed up Wisconsin quarters are selling for $500 or $600 apiece.
It would be possible for Mint employees, or even someone higher up in the organization, to make some alteration to one or two of the dies used, and stamp enough of the error coins to make them valuable, but attainable. The error would have to be clear enough to be recognizable, but subtle enough not to be weeded out in quality control. Which is exactly what this is.
It would seem like visible errors would be a thing of the past. When I was a kid, I used to scour my change for a famous double-struck 1955 penny. But in fact, a lot of the more visible errors are now weeded out before they get into circulation.
However, on further investigation, this Wisconsin mistake looks to me like a class of error that does still occur, the result of a cracked die.
But still, I have some doubts. Look at the pictures of these error coins. The extraneous element is curved, not a straight line like a crack might produce. And it blends in so well with the actual design of the coin, which seems an odd thing given the randomness of die deterioration.
Wisconsin did, though. It used its moment in the national numismatic spotlight to associate its good name with the makings of a half-decent cheesesteak -- grain, beef, and cheese. All you need is sauce and onions.
I laughed out loud when I saw my first Wisconsin quarter. Corn? Did they really want to be the corny state? A cow chanting "forward"?
Now, it turns out, there are errors on some of them.
I'm suspicious. The state quarters are a marketing ploy (as are all commemoratives). And error coins are valuable; collectors scoop them up, and the awareness of them is free PR for the mint and an incentive for the public to seek out the coins. Granted, the government, and the money supply, don't need PR. But if you know where the damaged coins are going, and you manage to position yourself to get some of them -- well, the messed up Wisconsin quarters are selling for $500 or $600 apiece.
It would be possible for Mint employees, or even someone higher up in the organization, to make some alteration to one or two of the dies used, and stamp enough of the error coins to make them valuable, but attainable. The error would have to be clear enough to be recognizable, but subtle enough not to be weeded out in quality control. Which is exactly what this is.
It would seem like visible errors would be a thing of the past. When I was a kid, I used to scour my change for a famous double-struck 1955 penny. But in fact, a lot of the more visible errors are now weeded out before they get into circulation.
However, on further investigation, this Wisconsin mistake looks to me like a class of error that does still occur, the result of a cracked die.
Die cracks are common on quarter dollar coins and, in fact, are the number one reasons that dies are retired from service at the Mint. Because of the short amount of time in which each state’s commemorative quarters will be struck (about 10 weeks) it is unlikely that the Mint will streamline the design of each quarter’s dies in order to prevent them from cracking. Even with their propensity to crack, quarter dies can still strike hundreds of thousands of coins before they are retired.
But still, I have some doubts. Look at the pictures of these error coins. The extraneous element is curved, not a straight line like a crack might produce. And it blends in so well with the actual design of the coin, which seems an odd thing given the randomness of die deterioration.
Labels: Money
