Prices for "Extra Leaf" 2004-D Wisconsin quarter dollars have been holding fairly steady the last week of February as mass media publicity has waned but the number of reported finds has grown slowly.
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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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Eagle Eye Rare Coins, Tucson, Ariz., estimated as of Feb. 14 that 2,000 to 2,500 "Extra Leaf High" examples had been found and 3,000 to 3,500 "Extra Leaf Low" pieces.
Not included: a hoard reported by a dealer who wished to remain anonymous for now.
Tom Steinmetz, Central Wisconsin Coin Co., said the dealer in Ohio told him of finding "at least 2,000" of the two varieties combined. The "High Leaf" variety was scarcer in that bunch, he said.
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Normal coin, full image (top) and enlarged (bottom).
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At the Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expo Feb. 24 to 26, Eagle Eye was selling "Low Leaf" Wisconsin quarter dollars for $200 in uncertified Brilliant Uncirculated, $245 in Mint State 64 certified by Professional Coin Grading Service and $349 in MS-65 (PCGS). "High Leaf" quarter dollars were priced at $300, $349 and $449, respectively. Some three-piece sets certified by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America were available for $799.
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Bob Ford, the Tucson collector who is credited with discovering the varieties in December, has been signing special labels going inside "Discoverer's sets" certified as such by NGC and sold by Eagle Eye. The marketer said that 110 such sets at most would be certified.
On the "Extra Leaf High," 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 raised 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. Some error specialists have said the marks lack design definition and are likely die gouges or dents. Author and dealer Arnold Margolis has said the arc shapes come from metal shavings as die shafts are lathe-trimmed for installation in coin presses. Such shavings were struck into the die, then soon fell away, leaving recesses that translate to raised marks on coins struck from those dies, he said.
As often happens when a new variety becomes "hot," some have identified purported other varieties. There has been Internet chatter about a "Fat Leaf" lacking detail at the base of the ear of corn. These coins appear to be simply weak strikes or products of a worn die, of no added value, but one offer to sell was in the $50 range. Twice that was taken as minimum bid in an eBay offering of a Wisconsin quarter dollar that appeared to have been struck from a die having a vertical scratch from the top of the ear of corn.
The number of known Wisconsin quarter dollar variants is slowly growing. At top is the "High Leaf" variant; at bottom is the "Low Leaf" variant.
