Shrapnel Damaged 2 Cent Piece

junk and some idiots bidding LOL

I think it looks a lot like a modern dug zinclon, which it obviously is not.

Just out of curiosity, how many of you have actually seen a coin damaged by shrapnal? 32 years in the Army, Reserve, and now Guard, and I can't recall seeing a single one. And because I have not, I'm not willing to call malarky on it.

Though, I admit it is not what I would expect.

Still though, fair is fair, unless you have seen a number of coins with shrapnal damage from, not just any way, but specifically the Civil War; I just don't see how anyone can give an informed opinion.

It could have been damaged by anything.
If this was shrapnel, I would think it would be bent and ragged in the fields as well.
Yeah, wild assumption.

The same seller is presently offering this item:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1874-SUPER-...em3f1eac503a

Now, how can an 1874 Indian cent be called a Civil War relic?

First, I agree, that IN MY OPINION, this is hype.

But I, and I admit this, play the devil's advocate all the time. Part of the training that goes on with being either a Detective or Interviewer/Interrogator; both of which I have professed.

As I said earlier, I have spent 32 years in the Army. I have seen active service in Central America, Grenada, Desert Shield/Storm, and OIF3(Iraq). I can tell you right now there is a world of difference between bullet damage and shrapnal damage. Shrapnel damage can, but rarely does, mimic bullet damage.

Shrapnel damage is itself a bit misleading as it includes blast, fire and heat damage associated with the initial Artillery/Grenade/rocket/ect burst. Lots and lots and lots of really weird things happen during such an event. I have seen things that I will not describe on a family forum. Suffice to say that I have seen things that were whole and undisturbed on one side completely destroyed on the other. I have seen neat round holes ( from canister) and jagged edges; not all them bent or twisted, though that is the norm.

It all has to do with heat, velocity, materials, time and distance from the explosion. Which itself can be of several different types. You have no idea of all the strange, strange things that can happen in an explosion. I have seen hundreds of shrapnel damaged objects in my life, and I have seen damage like the damage exhibited on that coin, though on a much larger scale.

As a trained Detective, and Engineer, I understand that there are truly "1 in a million" events. I am reminded of a Mythbusters episode where they tried to duplicate an "urban legend" regarding an explosion and a falling airman. At the end of the experiment they declared the myth "busted". However at the end of the show they admitted that they incident really happened. I love that show but you can not disprove a "one in a million event" based on a single experiment. You need to duplicate that experiment "a million times" in order to disprove it. And in any event you can never disprove an actual happening.

Just my Two Cents ( buy not HIS Two Cents!).

As Dave H pointed out, the seller is obviously using the Civil War and "romance" here, to sell this coin. Just wrong.
The coin is what it is. Let it sell itself.

If you all thought the first one was sensationalized, check out this one...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1832-BUST-D...em3f1e6847d0

Isn't that the truth... While reading the local paper not too long ago, I came upon an article written about a company in town buying coins at the local hotel. The reporter interviewed someone who was there to inquire about selling her late husband's coin collection. The lady felt like she was being scammed and commented "Coin dealers are no better than used car salesmen or used car dealers." It's too bad sellers like that ruin it for all of the honest, trustworthy sellers out there.