(1965) Quarter Pattern - RB-4115, INCO

Coin Details

Description

INCO experimental clad quarter RB-4115, continuing the methodical alloy evaluation that characterized the 1965 second-phase testing program. The International Nickel Company's interest in the clad coinage transition was both scientific and commercial: as the world's largest nickel producer, INCO stood to gain enormously from a coinage system that consumed nickel in every denomination from the dime upward. The company invested significant resources in its testing program, employing teams of metallurgists to develop and evaluate candidate alloys, contracting with the Medallic Art Company to produce struck test pieces, and maintaining detailed records of each composition's performance characteristics. RB-4115 emerged from this systematic process, its specific alloy formulation representing one point in a carefully designed experimental matrix. The piece was struck on standard Washington quarter dies, bearing the same design that had graced American quarters since 1932 and that would continue essentially unchanged through the transition to clad composition. The visual continuity between silver and clad quarters was a deliberate policy goal, intended to minimize public resistance to the change in composition.

Rarity Notes

R-7 to R-8. Extremely rare. Institutional provenance from INCO or Mint archives significantly enhances the historical value of these specimens.

Cross References

Research Blank RB-4115 (Gould/INCO experimental series)