Expert: PAPAJACK - 7/31/2008

Question
I have a Indiana quarter that is missing the IN in Indiana, leaving Diana, and the statehood date is missing the (1) from it's statehood date, both errors are on the back of the coin. Is it worth much or anything at all.
thank you

Answer
Hello AK,                

The letter was not missing from the die that made the coin.

Are there any scratch marks, or is the surface different where the letter should be?
Is there a ghost of the missing item or a smeared scar on the coins surface where it should be?
Is the rest of the coin properly struck?

Missing letters or numbers are usually caused by a filled die error.
Grease and debris commonly get caught in the recesses of the dies as they produce coins. When the dies close on the blank the portion of the die filled with this debris does not let the metal flow up into it therefore the image does not strike up.

These coins are common with weak or altogether missing features. The price you may get for them over the face value depends on what an error collector may pay for the particular coin. A coin you describe would only sell for less than a dollar at a coin show for its novelty value.

Error collecting is a branch outside of coins collecting. There is no fixed pricing on these error coins published and each one would have to be seen to be evaluated.

I hope this information is helpful.

Feel free to ask another question about US Coins.

Good Luck

PapaJack