WISCONSIN QUARTER VARIETY STORY Public Deposited
The E-Sylum: Volume 8, Number 3, January 16, 2005, Article 7
WISCONSIN QUARTER VARIETY STORY
The Arizona Daily Star of Tucson, AZ published a story
this week about newly discovered varieties of the
Wisconsin State quarter. It's unusual enough for the
mainstream press to write about coins at all, but to have
a story about minting varieties is downright rare. The
variety was featured in a Coin World story last week.
No doubt every person who reads the new article and
has a Wisconsin quarter in their pocket will call the
nearest coin dealer wanting to cash in their winning
lottery ticket."Coin collectors are starting to see green over unusual
markings that look like extra corn leaves on some of
the new Wisconsin quarters circulating around Tucson.So far the extra "leaves" - and why they've been
reported only in Tucson - remain a mystery."It's hard to say what the value of these things will be,"
said Rob Weiss, who owns Old Pueblo Coin, 4420 E.
Speedway. "Just to discover two varieties like this - it
is just so exciting. It is something that really is a major
thing in the coin industry."The Wisconsin quarter, which started circulating last
month, has the nation's first president, George Washington,
on the front and a state design on back that includes a
cow and an ear of corn."What we discovered was on a very small percentage
of these Wisconsin quarters there are two (varieties)
that contain extra leaves," Weiss said. "One variety has
an extra leaf that goes up," he said, and a second has
a "leaf" that curves down. "It is as clear and crisp and
sharp as can be. These are not depressions on the coin.
These are raised leaves."To find one of the varieties would have been incredible.
The fact that there are two completely different varieties
that we discovered is completely mind-boggling," Weiss
said.Weiss' shop made the discovery more than a week ago,
and as of Monday it was still waiting for an explanation
from the U.S. Mint."- 2005-01-16
- 8