By CoinWeek …..
Last week, a collector wrote in to ask about an unusual variety of the 2007-P George Washington Presidential Dollar.
The reader wrote:
After 18 years in the wild, a 2007-P (business strike) Washington Dollar Elongated Ray Variety was recently sold for the first time. The PCGS MS62 coin was sold at an auction on GreatCollections for $700. It took about seventeen years for the TPG’ers (ANACS, CAC, PCGS and NGC) to recognize and grade this coin.
The Elongated Ray is a fascinating variety that is visible to the naked eye and can be found in circulation, as large quantities of 2007-P George Washington Presidential Dollars were minted and delivered to banks. The variety, first published in the July 16, 2007 issue of Coin World, shows a noticeably longer ray on the Statue of Liberty’s tiara that extends all the way to her uplifted arm.
The Cherrypicker’s Guide recognizes the variety, and the leading grading services show limited submissions in their pop reports. Reports of examples found in the wild indicate that collectors hold even more examples in their raw form. Recent sales at high prices are likely to bring even more coins out into the open.
Still, the collector is curious to know how the variety was made. Their research has turned up little so far. Online reports of researchers filing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests have turned up nothing in the United States Mint’s records to indicate that this variety was made purposefully.
Have you found an Elongated Ray dollar or have a theory as to how this variety was made? Let us know in the comments.
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