Expert: PAPAJACK - 8/10/2007

Question
I have a Virginia quarter made in 2000 that looks copper on the face side and normal on the other. Is this worth anything?

Answer
Hello Mary,                                           

If the coin seems to be acceptable weight, it should be 5.67 grams, and the thickness does not seem right. It may be lighter if some of the nickel cladding is missing.

It is likely 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. Usually when this happens the design is not fully imparted since 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. So the metal scrap ends of the roll may have made it into a blanking press punched round and proceed through the whole coin making system.

I see coins as I described for sale for $10 or less depending on denomination and other conditions like damage and how much of the coin is fully struck. Yours could be worth more or less.

Or there is the possibility it was plated or contaminated with another metal. Coins take plating well but if you magnify the (fillet) area where the raised lettering is you will find a build-up of the plating material.  

Things like plated or damaged coins are worthless to collectors. Most coin shops and all coin Shows Large or small will have people knowledgeable enough to identify this piece for you at no charge.

I can direct you to a trustworthy coin person in your area. With out seeing the coin it is only a guess as to how it was made.

Write me back in a private question and let me know your general location using
1) The nearest large cities and
2) Some telephone area codes and
3) Some zip codes in your area, I can direct you to an AMERICAN NUMISMATIC ASSOCIATION MEMBER/DEALER near there. They are ethical and trustworthy.

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Thank You and Good Luck

PapaJack