Weird 1967 Quarter Found.

[GB_Amateur]

2 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

Strange you sought and then decided to basically brush off the input of a coin dealer as well as multiple experienced forum members who took the time to respond regarding the potential nature of your find.  But that is certainly your prerogative.  It is your find, after all.

If you feel so inclined, look up Occam's Razor. 

The simple version of that is summed up in the saying:

If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck.

Who knows, maybe there is a small possibility we're all wrong and you have something unusual there.

IMO, there should be a balance between the euphoria and wishful thinking of considering a find being rare (and valuable) vs. the likely eventual reality.  My approach is to begin with the former but not to carry it to the latter extreme.  A few nights sleep along with considering opinions of others helps a lot.  Time deadens the fickle emotions and lets logic/reason spill through.

Every coin I pull from the ground is the Holy Grail of numismatics until I see evidence to the contrary.  Usually that evidence comes quickly; occasionally it takes awhile.

I will say this -- somewhat contrary to other replies -- experts (true or supposed) can be wrong.  Many have the tendency to immediately blow off a query, partly because of how many junk finds they have to 'appraise' (for free).  I think the Rocks, Minerals, and Geology forum here is a decent example.  How many fairly common, 'worthless' specimen photos (more often than not out-of-focus) land here, and this isn't primarily a geology site.  It's easy to empathize with the 'experts' when they get frustrated.  But sometimes....  The key -- and this is the only way to go -- is to listen and strongly consider the reasons given.  If you don't get reasons then ignore the opinion as it may well not have firm ground to stand on.

You can keep the door open without arguing with every person who tries to close it.  Eventually the evidence will clarify and one needs to be ready for that.  In the meantime while you're still holding that door open, even if just by a crack, put yourself in the other person's shoes and respect their views, usually simply keeping your mouth (and fingers) quiet.  It's OK to disagree in silence.

[Chase Goldman]

Sirius - just one last follow up.  As I read through your replies, especially the last one, it is not clear to me whether you still think the quarter is silver or even valuable or just a unique strike on the wrong metal or a no-value counterfeit.  You were willing to scratch up the edge after visiting the coin dealer, after all. 

So your unwillingness to destructively test the coin further might just be that it is not worth the trouble to confirm whether or not the core is actually copper at this point (though you apparently do think there is no copper there) and not because you think it has collectable value.  I get that.  But at this point, i think that is the only way to be sure.  However, if you still want it to be accepted by the CoinStar machine, definitely let it be.  

[Chase Goldman]

2 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

You can keep the door open without arguing with every person who tries to close it.  Eventually the evidence will clarify and one needs to be ready for that.  In the meantime while you're still holding that door open, even if just by a crack, put yourself in the other person's shoes and respect their views, usually simply keeping your mouth (and fingers) quiet.  It's OK to disagree in silence.

This is sound advice for all who participate in asking for and dispensing advice, Chuck, regardless of where you stand on the present subject at hand.  Thanks for articulating it so well.  I often have to step back and look in the mirror and regain that sense of self-awareness as to whether I'm preaching or just trying to win an unwinnable debate solely for the sake of winning or being proven right, even if it’s only in my own mind.

[Sirius]

7 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

This is sound advice for all who participate in asking for and dispensing advice, Chuck, regardless of where you stand on the present subject at hand.  Thanks for articulating it so well.  I often have to step back and look in the mirror and regain that sense of self-awareness as to whether I'm preaching or just trying to win an unwinnable debate solely for the sake of winning or being proven right, even if it’s only in my own mind.

I'll admit being wrong now, additional scratching at the edge with a pen knife revealed the copper at last. I didn't want to damage the coin in the way you suggested, so I did it my way by picking at it. Consider me humbled. 

[Redneck]

If it was silver, it would read higher on your ID meter!