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 Replies: 18 / Views: 2,169 |
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New Member
 United States
9 Posts |
Reverse is perfect and it looks like somebody just punched two circles on the dates. I don't think it was a mint error, but I don't know too much about these things.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
571 Posts |
Of course this damage could have occured when the coin was new and only worth a dollar....
Dave
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Moderator
 United States
16679 Posts |
It's not a mint error. It was deliberately done, why?...who knows. Non-collectors just don't know and sometimes don't care. The sad part is that this coin is worth melt now basically :-(
swcoin.ecrater.com
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Pillar of the Community
United States
901 Posts |
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Valued Member
United States
275 Posts |
It may have been something someone did to commemorate a birthday or anniversary. If you look back there are many different ways of modifying coins for art, with varied results.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3253 Posts |
Was it Step 1 in somebody's effort to replace the date with a more valuable one?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1704 Posts |
Why? Who knows why now but, hopefully whoever did it didn't do this to any other silver dollars. Ed ANA LM-3175 |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Back in the 1960's the Las Vegas casinos were having problems keeping themselves supplied with silver dollars due to hoarding and the rising price of silver and a lot of them believed it was coin collectors hoarding them.. Several of them had the idea that if the dates were removed people would be much less likely to hoard them and they would remain in use in Vegas. So thousand of dollars had their dates defaced in the hopes that they would stay in use in the casinos. Of course it failed as the coins were still worth more as metal than as coins so they still disappeared into hoards.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3253 Posts |
Wow! Learn something new every day!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8904 Posts |
Maybe a stupid question, but isn't it illegal to deface US currency?  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3253 Posts |
From a website of Uncle Sam's: Quote:
Defacement of currency is a violation of Title 18, Section 333 of the United States Code. Under this provision, currency defacement is generally defined as follows: Whoever mutilates, cuts, disfigures, perforates, unites or cements together, or does any other thing to any bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt issued by any national banking association, Federal Reserve Bank, or Federal Reserve System, with intent to render such item(s) unfit to be reissued, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both. That's paper money, of course. I don't think the prisons are stacked up with hobo nickel hobos and love token lovers. |
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New Member
United States
9 Posts |
Wow, very interesting discussion. Especially appreciated the casino discussion. I never knew that, but can believe it. Very unfortunate, especially because it was one of the best condition dollars in the whole collection I received.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8904 Posts |
Quote:
I don't think the prisons are stacked up with hobo nickel hobos and love token lovers. Good point! And jewelry makers, and "holers"! |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
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Maybe a stupid question, but isn't it illegal to deface US currency? To deface CURRENCY, Yes. To deface COINS, No unless the defacement is done with fraudulent intent. Under US Code Title 18 coins are NOT considered currency. The laws dealing with printed paper securities are kept separate from the laws dealing with the coinage. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3253 Posts |
I suppose the laws are separate because paper notes are instruments of credit, while coinage is specie. If you got a silver dollar in change, that silver was yours, to do with what you will. Spend it, melt it down, have your baby teethe on it (once a common non-monetary use of silver dollars). Or drill out the date to try to keep it in your slot machines and out of collectors' cabinets. Just so long as you didn't alter with intent to deceive; a hobo nickel is perfectly lawful, but not a racketeer nickel! One thing occurs to me, though; once the rising price of silver brought on the clad coinage (and, later, that of copper begat the Zincoln), didn't that make coins less like specie, and more like instruments of credit? Couldn't you argue that holing a 1964 quarter is within your rights, but violating a 1965 could run you afoul of Title 18?
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Posted 10/15/2012 11:42 pm
