(1964-65) Quarter Pattern - RB-3110, INCO

Coin Details

Description

Experimental clad quarter cataloged as RB-3110, the third entry in the RB-31xx sub-group of INCO's 1964-65 clad coinage testing program. This composition continues the fine-grained investigation of the alloy family established at RB-3100, with each five-unit increment representing a controlled variation in one metallurgical parameter. The RB-3110 formulation would have been evaluated comparatively against RB-3100 and RB-3105 to determine the sensitivity of key performance metrics — particularly electromagnetic conductivity and surface color — to the specific compositional change being explored. The International Nickel Company's testing methodology at this late stage of the program was highly refined, drawing upon the extensive database of composition-property relationships built up through the earlier RB-1xxx and RB-2xxx testing campaigns. INCO's metallurgists could predict with reasonable accuracy how a given compositional change would affect most properties, using the test strikes primarily to confirm predictions and identify unexpected behaviors that theoretical models might miss. The RB-3110 piece preserves one such confirmatory data point in numismatic form, its physical properties encoding information about alloy behavior that would have been recorded in INCO's laboratory notebooks and reported to Treasury Department officials.

Rarity Notes

Extremely rare experimental piece. Population be 1-3 specimens. The RB-31xx sub-group is particularly scarce among INCO patterns.

Cross References

RB-3110 (Reed-Brenner), NGC ID: 61910