(1964-65) Quarter Pattern - RB-3100, INCO

Coin Details

Description

Experimental quarter cataloged as RB-3100 in the Reed-Brenner classification, part of the RB-3xxx family of INCO clad coinage test pieces dated 1964-65. The jump from RB-3000 to RB-3100 — a gap of one hundred catalog numbers — is dramatically larger than the five-unit increments typical of the RB-2xxx family, indicating a fundamentally different organizational principle. In the RB-3xxx system, the hundred-unit spacing between major entries may represent entirely different alloy systems or bonding approaches rather than the incremental parameter variations that characterized the RB-2xxx program. The RB-31xx sub-group thus represents a composition family distinctly different from the RB-3000 baseline. This broader spacing may also reflect a shift in the testing program's objectives: where the RB-2xxx series was exploring subtle compositional variations to optimize a specific alloy system, the RB-3xxx family was surveying a wider range of fundamentally different approaches, with finer optimization left for subsequent testing if a particular approach proved promising. The RB-3100 composition would have been subjected to the same rigorous evaluation protocol that INCO applied throughout its program — electromagnetic testing, wear simulation, color measurement, and striking quality assessment.

Rarity Notes

Extremely rare. Single-digit population estimated. The RB-31xx sub-group represents a distinct alloy family within the RB-3xxx series.

Cross References

RB-3100 (Reed-Brenner), NGC ID: 61908