1964 Quarter Pattern - RB-2355, INCO

Coin Details

Description

Experimental Washington Quarter struck in the RB-2355 alloy by the International Nickel Company and Medallic Art Company during the pivotal 1964 clad coinage testing program. This Reed-Brenner catalog number falls within the RB-23xx sub-series, a group of compositions that systematically varied one or more metallurgical parameters from a baseline established by earlier test results. The collaboration between INCO and the Treasury Department during 1964 operated under considerable urgency and secrecy. Treasury officials feared that premature disclosure of the government's plans to abandon silver coinage would trigger a speculative panic, further accelerating silver hoarding and coin shortages that were already causing serious disruptions to commerce. INCO's test strikes were produced under confidential arrangements, and the experimental quarters were treated as classified materials during the active testing phase. It was only decades later, as specimens entered the numismatic market through estate sales and corporate archive dispersals, that the full scope of the testing program became apparent. Kevin Flynn's Reed-Brenner cataloging effort, which assigned systematic numbers to each known composition variant, transformed these previously anonymous test pieces into collectible numismatic items with specific identities.

Rarity Notes

Extremely rare. Single-digit population survive. The confidential nature of the original program means that additional specimens may exist unrecognized in private collections.

Cross References

RB-2355 (Reed-Brenner), NGC ID: 61884