New Poster - Long Time Lurker & Member - My Unlisted Discovery!

[charlew514]

Greetings to everybody! I have utilized the information on this website for quite awhile, and have pulled some nice die varieties, RPMMs, and other coins that would have gone into a tube of wheat cents or other generic coins if not for finding the variety here.
I have been holding a Washington quarter that up until now, has no listings for varieties, but I hope to change that! I first noticed a slight RPMM while checking the coin with a 12X loupe, then closer with a 24X. It appeared at least doubled, but when I took some close up pictures, it appears to be a triple-punched 'D', possibly quadruple. What do you think?
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[charlew514]

Looks like I didn't attach the photos correctly - I'll get that fixed.

[charlew514]

OK - This should do it!

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[Jamez]

Based on those pics I think its some type of damage. You should see the same effects on the top of MM as well or at least some added depth to the MM. Something I am not seeing in these pictures.

[Peter]

I have to agree with Jim and it appears to be post mint damage with hits on the mm. Welcome to the Forum too!

[charlew514]

I don't see how that could even be considered as PMD. Somebody would have had to have some might steady hands as well as a computer generated image to look at while they altered or damaged the mintmark. Sort of like robotic assisted surgery. I did take those close-ups with the light shining in only one direction to pick up the tripling better, and that's why the other over-punched areas are not evident.
Being a new guy on the block, I don't want to sound as though I'm anything near an expert on the subject, but I do have certified RPMM & DD coins to compare to, so I am familiar with what a mintmark should look like...and this 'D' caught my eye at first look under a 10X loupe.
I'm not sure that it's clear just how magnified those images are. I used a 'Phonoscope' on my iPhone and really pumped up the power - that, along with the unilateral lighting show only the bottom of the 'D'. I will post some more regular size pictures for you to take a look at. Hopefully these will put the mintmark in better perspective. The 2nd is a bit out of focus because I took it in a hurry, but it shows the extended bottom of the mintmark, as well as evidence along the curved part of the 'D'.

[charlew514]

Oh, and thanks for the welcome, as well as your help, Peter!

[charlew514]

Another much better perspective -

[Peter]

It was just an opinion. I have seen odder things happen that could not be explained otherwise. Mike would be the person to chime in and I have been known to be incorrect before.

[Jamez]

Now the last picture I would say it is a RPM. I can see part of a MM in the center and then to the east of the original MM, Doesn't even look like the same MM to me. : ) Going back to the first picture though, I think it was hit with the reeds from another coin. Speculation at best but its a guess, since I didn't see how it happened. You can send the coin into Dr. Wiles if you would like for an in hand examination, then you would get a definitive answer. As you know what you see in hand is TONS clearer than what we see from a picture.

[diamond]

The first set of photos suggests machine doubling (or tripling, or quadrupling). It looks like a series of steps, which is the hallmark of push doubling (a type of machine doubling). The mintmark is often affected by this type of doubling and there may be no signs of it elsewhere.

[charlew514]

Thanks everybody. I appreciate the insights. As mentioned, it's true that in hand the coin looks much different than the photos.
Mike, when you mention no other signs of doubling, do you mean on other sides of the letter? The bottom of the 'D' sure looks like what you are describing, but there are signs of doubling inside & outside on all sides of the mintmark, although it is most noticeable on the bottom, with the 'step-like' appearance.

[Stachowski]

Another much better perspective -

I wanted a different look at it

[Stachowski]

I can help out with your image, you have to get them level & plumb .. You need to get a Styrofoam cup, and cut it on an angle, so it looks like a ramp, heres an example of a mint-mark I took, look how its plumb & level

[diamond]

When I said "elsewhere", I meant in places other than the mintmark. Doubling on both sides of a mintmark and the interior of a mintmark is inconsistent with an RPM.