Wyoming Quarter error

[Tuebits]

I found this Wyoming quarter in change and think it is a double strike. What do you think. Notice the hat is shadowed and the hinquarters and hinlegs.

[JamesWiles]

The Photo has too many shadows to say for sure. However, the hat and tail area are known to have die depressions which eventually turn into die breaks.

[diamond]

I've seen these quarters on eBay. The anomalies are incuse, not raised, so they're not die chips. I don't have an explanation, but the coin is definitely not double-struck.

[JamesWiles]

The die depressions are caused by chips/breaks in the die which have not yet fallen away. The chips haven't completely separated from the die but are in a raised position. Thus the coins exhibit an incuse area. Once the chips/breaks completely separate they will fall away and form a raised area on the coin.

[diamond]

You seem to be describing retained interior die breaks. Retained interior die breaks sink into the die face. They do not project out beyond the plane of the die face. At least I've never seen one that does. Yet, barring a close-up examination, I can't dismiss your scenario out-of-hand.

[sagethyme]

I had a similar Wyoming coin and posted photos on 1/07/08. I think that it is really easy to see marks on that particular coin as it is so plain. Take a look at mine does it look similar?

[diamond]

Your quarter was struck through grease. A completely different phenomenon. I have seen incuse traces similar to Tuebits' quarter on some recent Jefferson nickels, at the side of Monticello. My best guess on those, which I examined up close, was that I was dealing with a peculiar form of die deterioration/deformation.

[Tuebits]

Additional photos

All, the photo I used didn't come out as well as I'd like so I've taken some more pictures. They will hopefully show the crossing of the legs clearer and the tail having signs of a double strike.

[diamond]

The tail appears to show a die chip. There appears to be incuse deformation in the field just above the hat. There may be some small die chips in the area where the legs cross, but it's hard to tell given the size of the photo and the small size of the defects. There is absolutely no evidence of a double strike.