RRDC-25c-1957D-01R Bisecting Rim to Rim Die Crack

Description

Spanning the complete diameter of the reverse die from one rim to the other, this bisecting rim to rim die crack on a 1957 Denver Mint Washington Quarter represents an advanced stage of die failure where a fracture traversed the entire die face. A bisecting crack indicates the die had reached a critical stage of fatigue where the fracture propagated completely across the die surface rather than terminating partway through the design — a more severe condition than a partial die crack that stops short of the opposite rim. The "R" suffix designates this as a reverse variety. The 1957-D Washington Quarter was produced at Denver during the final years of the silver Washington Quarter series, which ran from 1932 through 1964 before the transition to copper-nickel clad composition. Denver struck approximately 77.9 million quarters in 1957, a substantial production run that required extensive die usage. The Washington Quarter design, by John Flanagan, had been in continuous production for twenty-five years by 1957 and would continue through the transition to clad coinage. Cataloged by Cuds on Coins with a documentation date of October 6, 2019, RRDC-25c-1957D-01R documents a dramatic form of die failure on a silver quarter from the post-war era, when the Mint was producing coins in the final decade of silver circulating coinage.

Attribution History

• Discovered by William McClure
• Cross reference: none. 10/06/2019.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References