In 1918, the United States was in the midst of a
wartime economy, and in support of this, production boomed at the
nation’s minting facilities. At San Francisco, coinage of the Standing
Liberty Quarter soared to more than 11 million pieces in 1918.
It was the duty of the mother mint in Philadelphia to supply branch
mints with coin stamping dies. Two hits from a master hub were required
to form a coin die.
In the push to maintain high coinage production,
somehow a 1918 die was first hit by a 1917 master hub, but the second
blow came from a 1918 hub, creating an “8 over 7” effect.
Even though the overdate is visible to the naked eye, numismatists did
not recognize the variety until 1937. By then, many of what most
certainly a small number to begin with had been lost, or had the date
worn off. The 1918/7-S Standing Liberty Quarter is rarer in higher
grades than its 1916 sibling, and is acknowledged as one of the leading
key dates in the
popular Standing Liberty Quarter series.
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