As greenprint said, see if it is a Magician's coin -- which will give a dull thus when dropped on a surface. 1986 is not known date for a rotated die error.
Magician's coins are manufactured from real coins and used for a trick known as "Scotch and Soda." If you google that term, you will find images etc. Basically they hollow out a half dollar, alter another coin to fit inside, and then glue that coin to the back of yet another half dollar.
They normally can be separated by putting into a glass and shaking it while the glass is upright. Normally from a store they have what is called a "bang Ring" to separate them.
Sorry, the coin is flipped vertically. if flipped eagle is at 2 o'clocked,when rotated eagle bottom is at 7 o'clock. I tried water and it did was not seperated
Sorry if my instructions were not clear. Water won't do it. It is the physical force of the coin hitting the sides of an empty glass (the glass is in an upright position so the coin is quickly being shaken back and forth a long the bottom) that jar the halves of it loose to make them separate.
Did you see if it makes a dull thud, or does it ring like a normal coin should (try it with a normal half also for comparison).
Hmm... that's a bit light. I just weighed six of Magician's coins I have them (found them roll searching over a few years). They ranged from 8 grams to 11 grams. None of them were 12.5 like a normal half.
The known rotated die errors for JFK halves are the 1971-D and 1988-P. This is why I still am skeptical, although I think it would be great to discover an unknown date!
The only other advice I can give is to look very carefully around the inside of the rim on the REV. Although the machined ones are good, a very tiny seam can generally be seen by eye - especially with magnification.
Also, it might not separate b/c sometimes they are very hard to separate even with a bang ring - one of mine took forever and a lot of hitting.
If you take a normal half dollar and drop it from a small height, then do the same with this one, and they sound the same, I think I would take it to a coin shop to verify it. But have them explain to you how they can tell it is an altered coin if they say it is.
The other option is to pay a fee to a third party grading company for them to verify it it and put it in a slab if its a genuine error. But I personally would go the coin shop route (not just an antique dealer).
Please keep us posted either way. If it is a genuine error, then there are those on here who can direct you how to get top dollar if you would want to sell it.
Please don't quote me, but I think a rotated die half is around 100.00 or so? Maybe someone else will chime in who knows.
I hope it turns out to be legit.
Even if not, these are fun to fool family and friends - look at youtube for tricks to do with it
If the coin was altered the way they make magicians coins, it might look like this:
If it was, then look for this seam on one side of the coin that has a double line near the rim: They don't seem to car what the rotation of the altered faces direction. that might be a suggestion. The obverse looks a bit like a MAD coin near the date area. So keep us posted on this one as to what you find.
Well I went to a coin shop..not pawn shop lol and they had no clue on this coin either. They checked it out and felt about 99% that it was NOT a Magicians coin.Ill update again when I get more info.
Quote: The known rotated die errors for JFK halves are the 1971-D and 1988-P. This is why I still am skeptical, although I think it would be great to discover an unknown date!
Known - Says who?
Kennedy half dollars that I've seen that have rotated dies where: 1965 SMS 1966 SMS 1967 Business Strike 1971-S Proof 1972-D Business Strike 1973-D Business Strike 1986-D Business Strike 1988-P Business Strike
@Taclough Yhanks for this expanded list. I did not list non-circulation varieties b/c the one on this thread is an 1986-D.
However, I see ytou have found a lot more business strikes. May I ask where you found these listed? I have been scouring every JFK source I can over the past 5 years or so when I was roll searching. I wanted to find anything to keep an eye out for, but never saw the business strikes you mention.
Could you share your sources please? Now I am sickened at how many 72-D and 73-D coins I went through without knowing to specifically be looking for the die rotation errors.
Quote: @Taclough Yhanks for this expanded list. I did not list non-circulation varieties b/c the one on this thread is an 1986-D.
However, I see ytou have found a lot more business strikes. May I ask where you found these listed? I have been scouring every JFK source I can over the past 5 years or so when I was roll searching. I wanted to find anything to keep an eye out for, but never saw the business strikes you mention.
Could you share your sources please? Now I am sickened at how many 72-D and 73-D coins I went through without knowing to specifically be looking for the die rotation errors.
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Posted 04/25/2016 7:18 pm
