1964 Quarter Pattern - RB-2205, INCO

Coin Details

Description

Experimental clad quarter produced by the International Nickel Company during the 1964 coinage composition trials. This piece, classified as RB-2205 in the Reed-Brenner catalog, represents a subtle variation from RB-2200 in its alloy formulation. The INCO testing program was remarkably systematic: each five-unit increment in the RB numbering system typically corresponded to a specific change in one metallurgical variable — whether that was the percentage of nickel in the cladding, the thickness of the clad layer relative to the copper core, the annealing temperature used during bonding, or the rolling pressure applied to fuse the layers. INCO's engineers at their Huntington, West Virginia research facility and their collaborators at Medallic Art Company in New York struck these pieces on standard Washington Quarter dies to ensure that the test results would be directly applicable to actual production conditions. The obverse and reverse designs are identical to the circulating 1964 Washington Quarter, as the purpose of these strikings was to evaluate the metal rather than the design. The 1964 date is significant: Congress would pass the Coinage Act of 1965 the following year, authorizing the copper-nickel clad composition that ultimately derived from this very testing program. RB-2205 thus represents one small but essential step in the most consequential change to American coinage composition since the elimination of gold coins in 1933.

Rarity Notes

Extremely rare experimental issue. Survive in single-digit quantities. These INCO patterns seldom appear at public auction.

Cross References

RB-2205 (Reed-Brenner), NGC ID: 50345