2021 (P) Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site Quarter - (P) Tuskegee Airmen National Park Quarter - STT 001

Description

Closing out the 56-design America the Beautiful Quarters program, the 2021 Tuskegee Airmen quarter honors the African American military aviators who trained at Tuskegee Army Air Field during World War II — and STT 001 documents a strike-through error on the Philadelphia issue. Strike-throughs occur when foreign material becomes trapped between the die and the planchet during the striking process, leaving an impression or obscured area on the finished coin where the material blocked full metal flow into the die cavity. Common contaminants include grease, cloth fibers, metal fragments, and debris from the press mechanism. The Tuskegee Airmen design depicts a pilot suiting up with two P-51 Mustang fighters overhead, with the detailed aircraft and figure providing clear reference points for identifying where strike-through material interrupted the design. The ATB program's final year of production in 2021 saw Philadelphia continuing high-volume quarter strikes, where the speed of modern coining presses means even brief contamination events can affect multiple coins before detection. Collectors of both ATB quarters and military-themed numismatic pieces share interest in this variety.