1935 S Washington No Designer Initials

[coin detective]

I recently purchased an MS65 quality 1935 S Wash. quarter. I already had an AU58 grade 35 S. Both have no designer initials. I at first assumed this was due to a filled die. But, on close inspection, I find that the area where the initials should be(on the obv. neck), there were die scratches that were long, consistant, and undistorted where the initials should have been. It would seem to me, that if they were filled dies, that the area would be slightly lumpy and or distorted slightly, and would lack the above die scratches. Filled dies are errors, but if the mint left the initials off by mistake, then I believe it would be a die variety. I have not been able to read much of anything about missing designer initials in the Wash. Quarter series, and wonder if anyone can comment about this or enlighten us a little. Thanks. Coin Detective.

[diamond]

If it's not a filled die, then it's most probably a case of intentional die abrasion. This sometimes removes the designer's initials on Lincoln cents and Kennedy halves.

[coin detective]

Thanks for the reply Mike. If I understand the concept correctly, intentional abraison would be like sanding down a part of the die to remove imperfections, etc. to improve the die quality. The part of the die that would create the designers initials during the strike, would actually be incuse or recessed to create the high spot resulting in the initials. Wouldn't a lot of metal from the die have to be removed to completely remove the initials?

[wavysteps]

Not necessarily. It is dependent on the age of the die as well. As the die ages, the design element tend to flatten or become less thick. Abrading the die sharpens the design detail, however, it also again makes that design element less thick. Two primary examples of this are the 1922 no D Lincoln cent and the 3 and 3 1/2 legged Buffalo nickels, where the design element was abraded so much, that the design was completely or partially removed.

BJ Neff

[coin detective]

Thank you wavy steps for your reply. The replys still beg an answer to the question. Maybe stated slightly different, can an attributor make an assessment if the lack of initials is due filling, abraiding or left off?