RIDB-25c-1960D-01 Retained Interior Die Break

Description

Cataloged as the first retained interior die break for the 1960 Denver Mint Washington Quarter, RIDB-25c-1960D-01 preserves a die fracture where an interior section of the die cracked but remained in place rather than falling away. When a die develops an interior break — a fracture away from the rim within the design field — the broken fragment can either separate completely (creating an interior die break with a full raised mass) or stay held in position by surrounding die steel, producing the "retained" variant documented here. The retained fragment may shift slightly during striking, creating a partially raised area with visible crack outlines that differ from the sharply defined featureless blobs produced when the fragment separates entirely. The 1960 Washington Silver Quarter was struck during the final years of the 90% silver composition that had been used since the series' introduction in 1932 — the Coinage Act of 1965 would end silver quarters just five years later. Denver's 1960 quarter production contributed to the massive output of the post-war boom era. First cataloged on October 29, 2017 by Cuds on Coins, no independent cross-references have been established. Interior die breaks on silver-composition quarters carry particular interest among collectors because the softer silver planchet can capture finer details of the fracture pattern than the harder copper-nickel clad composition that replaced it.

Attribution History

• Discovered by Tracy Crawford
• Cross reference: none. 10/29/2017.
• Expert attribution by Cuds on Coins

External References