The E-Sylum:  Volume 9, Number 4, January 22, 2006, Article 12

WISCONSIN QUARTER VARIETY EXPLAINED

On January 20 USA Today published an article about the
Wisconsin quarter "extra leaf" varieties following the
release of an investigative report on the subject:

"The release of thousands of flawed Wisconsin state quarters
that set off a buying frenzy, and speculations of foul play,
was a mistake stemming from an ill-timed meal break, a
government investigation has found.

As many as 50,000 of the faulty coins, 50 times the amount
earlier thought, entered circulation in 2004 after the coins
were produced and bagged during an operator's break, according
to the Treasury Department's Office of Inspector General. The
flawed Wisconsin coins, which have sold for thousands of
dollars, appear to have an extra leaf on the left side of
an ear of corn.

The quarters "were most likely produced as a result of
machine or product deficiencies, not as a result of an
intentional act," according to the report, obtained by
USA TODAY through a Freedom of Information Act request."

"No one was fired as a result of the incident. Mint
spokeswoman Becky Bailey says by the time the final error
was realized, the quarters were bagged and ready to be shipped.
It would have been too costly to separate the blemished
quarters from the good quarters by hand or to destroy them,
Bailey says."

To read the complete story, see: Full Story

To read another story, in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, 
see: Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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