Curved planchet or wear & tear on 1999 Pennsylvania Quarter

[CoinGirl]

I'm still an infant in my learning process, so please excuse me if these questions are extremely naive. I have a lot to learn! I found this quarter and have been hanging onto it as I'm not sure if it's an error or it was just melted somewhere.... Any insight would be appreciated. I'm looking specifically at the reverse side curves and how they correspond to the cuds on the obverse. Thank you for your time.

[MintErrors]

This one looks like it is Post Mint Damage, like it happened outside of the mint. Let me try to explain why. The planchets are cut out of strips of metal. The circular planchets or blanks, go through a pathway, slightly smaller than the size of that planchet. It helps form a rim on that coin. It's called an "upset mill".

Once those now deemed type 2 planchets head towards the printing press, it's time to make them into coins. The working dies that make coins basically have mirror images of the design you see sunk into the metal dies. So when the dies strike the planchet, it squeezes the planchet slightly and a coin is born. The thing about the dies is, they are just round pieces of metal. No rim on them.

So let's look at this coin you have. On the reverse, near the word LIBERTY, look at that very thin line just before the rim to the east (right). See how it wavers with the rim itself? That thin line is the edge of the working die... those two processes are done in two totally different areas. It is highly unlikely the die and the upset mill would have the same issue in the same areas.

Look at the thinnest part of the coin where the reeding is. If there is evidence of it being smashed down or damaged, it helps prove it is PMD (post mint damage), something happened to it outside of the mint.

One last bit, if the coin had a bad planchet, and the working dies struck a blank that looked like this, i am sure some of the image of the coin would have been impressed onto the rim. I personally do not see that here.

That's my opinion on it.

Great photos !

[CoinGirl]

Thank you so much for this! And thank you for the education as well. That is so helpful.

[Zimmy]

Yes I agree, post mint damage. Rms were badly bruised.