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 Replies: 18 / Views: 4,679 |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5239 Posts |
  Can anyone tell if this was likely contemporary, or was it gold plated more recently? Or is it even possible to know? In favor of the view that it is contemporary is that the underlying coin has had little circulation (despite being heavily scrubbed). Edited by oriole
02/07/2020 6:28 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1378 Posts |
Edited by DoctorBurnzy
02/07/2020 6:40 pm
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
5239 Posts |
Hmm... And that story of Josh Tatum may be a myth
How disappointing that facts ruined a wonderful story.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7276 Posts |
I was given "racketeer" nickel. It was at one time In the past coated with gold but most has come off. I like the story whether it's true or not doesn't matter. It's still a cool story.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8516 Posts |
That looks like a brand new one and it needs to have reeding.
Oregon coin geek.....*** GO BEAVS ! ! ! ***
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1378 Posts |
Edited by DoctorBurnzy
02/07/2020 8:58 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4415 Posts |
Given the coin's lack of wear, I suspect this is an earlier plating. Regardless, the nickels that are plated AND possess reeded edges tend to fetch prices of $50 or more. I see the plated ones typically selling for $7-$15 at shows.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5239 Posts |
This does not have reeding. I had forgotten about that. But still a great story. If you compare the designs on this vs. the $5 gold the resemblance is only superficial, and then only on one side, so it really should not have fooled anyone.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4415 Posts |
Yes, true or not, stories sell. I've seen many well-worn Racketeer Nickels with full plating. Those are more easily attributed to the 1960's or later.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4591 Posts |
-----Burton 50+ year / Life / Emeritus ANA member (joined 12/1/1973) Life member: Numismatics International, CONECA Member: TNA, FtWCC, NETCC, EveryCountry (online) coin club Owned by three cats and a wife of 40+ years (joined 1983) Author: 3rd Edition of the Sample Slabs book, https://www.sampleslabs.info/ |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1378 Posts |
Nonetheless, for me it's leave a racketeer nickel on the rack because it can't be attributed....but if you like them and the price seems right...go for it....when you think it is at least not a contemporary.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4415 Posts |
@BStrauss3 ... Thanks for sharing that great article on the Racketeer Nickels. I don't recall seeing it before.
The article doesn't conclude that "Josh Tatum" story was a myth. It's simply says that there's as yet no basis in fact. Regardless, the story will forever be attached to the issue. There were contemporary accounts of these being passed and/or attempted as such. I read that, in the mid-1960's, the Secret Service confiscated one of them on display in a coin shop window. This story may have prompted further plating and marketing of this nickel fabrication.
BTW, doing a cursory google search for Joshua Tatum, I found a half dozen men by that name. One such individual murdered a man in Mississippi.
Edited by ExoGuy
02/08/2020 11:14 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4415 Posts |
It occurs to me that 1804 dollars weren't contemporary, either. Great story though, and, akin to the Racketeer Nickels in that regard, stories sell. Pretty as modern proof coins are, they generally offer no intriguing story. I could write volumes about coins that don't interest me, but why do that? It's far more fun to write/share info about coins that do interest me .... just sayin'
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4591 Posts |
-----Burton 50+ year / Life / Emeritus ANA member (joined 12/1/1973) Life member: Numismatics International, CONECA Member: TNA, FtWCC, NETCC, EveryCountry (online) coin club Owned by three cats and a wife of 40+ years (joined 1983) Author: 3rd Edition of the Sample Slabs book, https://www.sampleslabs.info/ |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2229 Posts |
Here's pics of what's likely a genuine racketeer nickel found in an archaeological dig in Deadwood SD 2001. Articles about it are on the Rapid City Journal and archaeology.org sites. These were plated with gold. Photos courtesy of these sites. Wild Bill Hickok would not have held this Deadwood coin. He was killed there in 1876. Here's a pic of my 1883 nickel and a modern toned/colored gold nickel made to look like a racketeer nickel. I think many of these sold today were made later for collectors or to fool collectors and are not plated gold from the racketeer era.    Edited by livingwater
05/13/2020 8:04 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Quote:
If you compare the designs on this vs. the $5 gold the resemblance is only superficial, and then only on one side, so it really should not have fooled anyone. But it also didn't look like the Shield nickels everyone were used to, It looks much more like a $5 gold than a Shield nickel, and if you hadn't seen any 1883 half egles yet, you might take it for a newly designed one. No internet, TV, Radio, few newspapers, most people would learn of a design change in their coins when they receive their first one over the counter. "What the heck is THIS?" In this case it doesn't look like a nickel, it's gold, has a portrait of Liberty on it, size of a $5 gold, must be a new design $5 gold. |
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Replies: 18 / Views: 4,679 |
Posted 02/07/2020 8:32 pm
