1913 Liberty Head Nickel

Between the 1804 Dollar and the 1913 Nickel, we see literally dozens of fakes and counterfeits here every year. Many of these are owned by people who are so absolutely convinced that they've won the lottery, that no amount of reasoning will change their mind and they end up leaving in a huff. Here are my thoughts for this coin:

It is obviously unaltered - not an altered-date coin. The striations showing in the SEM pic would be impossible to retain had the surrounding area been disturbed to raise a 3. On the other hand, the stroke weight of the 3 is all wrong by direct comparison to the existing coins - it's visibly too thick. The 9 is also wrong. The whole-coin photograph, although accurate-looking, is far too small to draw any conclusions.

I wish you were local, js13977. I would dearly love to get your coin under the unrelenting eye of my camera.

I would call it a 99% probability that this coin is counterfeit. However, the other 1% is sufficient reason, to my mind, to carry through and make absolutely sure that it isn't real. This would involve, to begin, confirming the precise metallurgical composition (something which probably cannot be done in a non-invasive fashion) to determine if it's an alloy which the Mint might have reasonably used in 1912.

One qualification - the hype surrounding the 1913 Nickel dates back to the late 1920's, and a near-contemporary counterfeit is not impossible.

Frankly, I see that as problematic. The TPG's will be predisposed to declare it counterfeit, in my opinion. Unfortunately, they're the people with the expertise to know precisely what the coin should look like, had it been minted in 1912-1913 - the shape and sharpness of the reeding, the intersection between fields and devices, how the striking striations should look and orient.

It's incumbent upon the owner to develop this knowledge, and build a case of sufficient factual proof to make it evident that further investigation is warranted.

I remain unconvinced and pessimistic, and will be pessimistic until the day this coin gets into a PCGS slab. But, remember, it took years for the Walton example to be recognized as genuine.

That's the trouble. Nobody knows. No record exists. There could be a hundred. It's highly unlikely, of course, but there's evidence of a sixth at least.

3 pic is taken magnified 50x by the SEM and the metal composition is also anylyzed by the same machine.

Image: 3LR.jpg
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Image: 1913Alloy.jpg
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>> I would call it a 99% probability that this coin is counterfeit. >> However, the other 1% is sufficient reason, to my mind, to carry >> through and make absolutely sure that it isn't real. This would >> involve, to begin, confirming the precise metallurgicalcomposition (something which probably cannot be done in >> a non-invasive fashion) to determine if it's an alloy which the >> Mint might have reasonably used in 1912.

One of the picture attached is the answer to your inquiry about the alloy composition of the coin (Nickel 25.311/ Cooper 74.398 the same as existing real 1913 LH nickel). Also, you have question about the 9 as your observation from the image. I have mentioned from my previous message that I have brought the coin to NGC headquarter and the coin was examined by an expert. With his examination under multiple times magnification microscope used, his findings that the number 191 has no tampering and real, but the 3 is replaced and fused, again the reason I have a mettalurgical expert examined his claim which is proved wrong by the forensic mettalurgical engineer.

You also mentioned about sending this to TPG and as you said they will discard any claim just as they did at NGC and they will turn their head away of possibilities. Given the authority to declare a collection between a fake and real that decide a value, are they really legitimate to make that kind of judgement? If the authority does not even have the record of authenticity, how they can make a declaration that ones collection is not real with no value? Is this how the community going around, if it so, then common sense will tell that they are not real themselves and it is a fraud. I do feel, that every claim wether fake or not should be taken consideration and it's the authority's job to prove with "EVIDENCE" that a claim is false or not... they get paid for the service anyway.

Merty, I do not seems to see alteration with your coin either, but the 3 has a different loop. Could it be because of the angle how you took the pictures? This is puzzling me now if there are really other 1913's out there and the community will not just accept it. The community claim that there have been many 1913 came out that has been examined as fake. I'm just wondering if those fakes with no evidence of tampering could be collected together to be studied and analyzed? Just a thought!

JS I am sure you can see how the light reflects in front of the 3 in the middle That is where it is dug out or something WE THINK
I agree that no one really knows how many this guy made, but I can also agree there are altered and/or counterfits out there. I know mine is wore pretty good except for the date so it has been circulated for many years until my mom bought it from a bank she worked in back in the 50's.

I think it would be incredible if someone found a (or the?) sixth.

But, the only thing similar about these two threes is that they are both threes. Does the three look that "fat" in hand?

(genuine on left)