Expert: PAPAJACK - 11/28/2006

Question
I have a 1989 US quarter that is thinner by about 25% and is 1.5 milligrams less than 20 other quarters that I weighed.  Is this a common error?  I came across this thinking it was silver by the sound and weight of it.

Jeff

Answer
Hello Jeff,   

The coin seems to be acceptable weight, it should be 5.67 grams, but the thickness does not seem right. It should be lighter if 25% of the coin is missing.
It is possible the metal sandwich the mint uses was near the end of the roll and the clad layers were not as thick as they should be. Then when the design was struck the metal was not sufficient to strike up properly.
This is a fairly common error. Since the U.S. Mint buys strips of metal about 13 inches wide and 1,500 feet long to manufacture the clad coins. The strips come rolled in a coil. Each coil is fed through a blanking press which punches out round discs called blanks. The leftover strip is chopped and recycled During manufacture. As the coil of Nickel Clad material comes near the end of a roll, the thickness and composition is not always in specification. Somehow the metal scrap ends may have been put into a blanking press.

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Thank You and Good Luck

PapaJack