1999 P New Jersey commemorative quarter--why such a silver edge?

[Bad Wolf]

I told 50cent I'd do a quarter check out here in District 12 (California, in this case) since several of you out there seem to be finding silver quarters in the wild. Got my first box today and thought I'd gotten lucky right off the bat when a bright, shiny all silver edge showed through the plastic wrapper of a roll right on the top row of the box. (I don't mind plastic rolls because they have been producing dimes for me lately--but I digress...) Turns out to be a 1999 P New Jersey commemorative, but the edge is so shiny with no copper showing at all that I thought it had to be a proof, but sadly in this case "P" does not stand for "proof".

I'm still learning as I go, so can someone please school me on this?

 

[50cent]

Does the edge actually look silver/white, or is it just extremely shiny, I opened a couple quarters that appeared uniformly shiny, but if I looked closely, they had a slightly copper tint to them.

 

[sagittarius98]

Could be plated.

 

[Bad Wolf]

Hey 50' & '98, thanks for your replies--the edge on this coin is not silver/white like a brand new clad and there is absolutely no copper or copper tint--I double checked with a loop. It does look like it could be plated, though, but I don't know what that means. I mean, I know what plating is, but why would a clad be silver plated? (And just so I'm not accused of being lazy, I did try to look it up in the blue book.)

Thanks again for your two-cents!

 

[sagittarius98]

Hey 50' & '98, thanks for your replies--the edge on this coin is not silver/white like a brand new clad and there is absolutely no copper or copper tint--I double checked with a loop. It does look like it could be plated, though, but I don't know what that means. I mean, I know what plating is, but why would a clad be silver plated? (And just so I'm not accused of being lazy, I did try to look it up in the blue book.)

Thanks again for your two-cents!

It would be plated outside of the mint by individuals either as a:

1) scam (to say it's silver)
2) test for a silver/chrome plater
3) novelty

 

[vetarun]

it is a novelty set designed for sale on HSN and such. They are sold in sets like the gold plated set you see on tv.
1999 2008 State Quarter Set Platinum Gold P D 40 Sets 200 Coins $50 Face Value | eBay
sorry not very valuable.

 

[Bad Wolf]

Thanks for the schoolin', guys. That makes my first official box of quarters a skunkeroo, not counting the Bermudan twenty-five cent piece and English ten pence, which I don't. Count, that is...

 

[CoinFetcher]

I find plated quarters all,the dime

 

[fistfulladirt]

JCWhitney home plating kit.