"Extra Leaf" Wisconsin quarter dollars continued to be found in scattered small quantities but no reports of larger finds surfaced as February approached its final full week.
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COMPARE THE extra leaf or husk indicated by the arrows on each of the two 2004-D Wisconsin quarter dollars to the same area of the design on a normal coin. If your coin has one of these extra "leaves," it could be worth $100 or more!
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Local news media have been localizing stories, quoting collectors and dealers and fanning public interest.
Two variants are being found on 2004-D issues, in addition to normal coins. On the variant called "Extra Leaf High" by some, a raised line emerges from the block of cheese, to the left of the ear of corn, and rises in a slight arc to meet a leaf above. On the "Extra Leaf Low," a thicker mark forms a low arc from the base of the corn to the cheese at left.
Some have speculated that these are deliberate though unauthorized attempts to add the appearance of another leaf.
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Normal coin, full image (top) and enlarged (bottom).
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Arnold Margolis, co-author with Fred Weinberg of The Error Coin Encyclopedia, is among the latest researchers to call the speculation unfounded.
"The only logical possible answer is that these are indentations caused by a scrap of die steel that was probably carried away by the first or second strike from the die," he said.
The shaft of the die is trimmed on a lathe for proper fit into the coining press, he said.
As the die turns in the lathe, "you get curlicues of die steel, and a lot of oil is involved - cutting oil," he said.
In this scenario, a metal shaving fell onto the die face, where oil caused it to adhere. The shaving was then struck into the die during an early coin strike, leaving an indentation before falling away. On coin strikes to follow, the indentation on the die would translate to a raised mark on the coins.
"The size and shape are correct," Margolis said of the marks on the Wisconsin quarter dollars.
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Others rejecting the "leaf" design speculation have referred to the marks as probable gouges or dents. Coin World columnist Ken Potter said: "These are minor flaws with catchy nicknames - and nothing more. … The so-called extra leaves … fall short of exhibiting characteristics of an intended design. … the positions of these so-called leaves are just too random and awkward to be deliberate design modifications." The "high leaf" sprouts from the cheese, while the "low leaf" appears to pierce a real leaf in the design, and neither mark "has any contoured flatness or texture," he said.
Potter was quoted in the last issue of Coin World as saying that such a gouge or dent would have "an estimated value of no more than $10 each by standards usually attached to such items."
Margolis was more withering: "I wouldn't handle them unless I got them for a buck and could sell them for two."
High-grade examples have been selling for hundreds of dollars apiece.
Collector Bob Ford is credited with discovering both variants in the Tucson, Ariz., area Dec. 11 and making them known to Old Pueblo Coin Exchange of that city. The dealership alerted Coin World, which first reported on them in the Jan. 10 issue. The biggest quantities have been found in the Tucson area and to a lesser extent around San Antonio, Texas. Individual coins might circulate far from their first release; one reader reported to Coin World that she found a "Leaf High" example in Cleveland, Ohio, where Philadelphia Mint coins are the first to circulate.
Eagle Eye Rare Coins, Tucson, put the known numbers as of Feb. 15 at 2,000 "High" examples and 2,750 "Low" variants. Additional numbers may be reflected in a comment from the Old Pueblo firm that "many people are finding circulated pieces and placing them on the Internet."
Mid-February asking prices for specimens certified by Professional Coin Grading Service or Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America have been in the $225 to $250 range for "Leaf Low" coins in Mint State 64 or 65 and $350 to $450 for "Leaf High" MS-64 to MS-65. Some sets with the two variants, plus a normal coin, have sold in higher grades for around $1,100.
"It appears this is one of those rare examples of a trivial error type being promoted into familiarity and acceptance by the big promoters," Potter said. "Very few minor errors given fancy nicknames ever stick but a few do catch on."
