Posted 05/23/2012 01:04 am
It is supposed to be a dollar coin, and was issued in years 3, 8,9,10. Your coin is a 5 dollar issue of year 5- The One symbol is removed and converted into a sightly unbalanced 5, and the year 3 is converted into a 5. The vertical strokes of the 5 (obverse side) are higher than the horizontal strokes. There is also the suggestion of some work around the horizontal strokes (pitting or raised, I am not sure which.) The stars on the shoulder lapels have rather strange shapes and weaknesses. There is a slight problem with the rim at 3:00. There are unusual weaknesses on certain of the characters, and extra metal in characters 2,3,and 4. The moustache is excepionally well defined, and the hair detail is much more than normal. On the reverse, there is still a remnant of the original 1 between the left and right parts of the 5 (horizontal line, off the top horizontal stroke). The surface of the coin shows where the alteration was made- the wreath and outside is matte, while the interior surface is shiny. So I would call it a definate non-original money grab. There were no $5 coins made in this period. but there were Gold $10 issues.
