| Author |
 Replies: 6 / Views: 2,016 |
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Canada
1152 Posts |
Any ideas about this one? I've had it for years. Made of lead, holed, and then plated in chrome (possibly to preserve the lead?) I've heard they used to make pattern coins from lead, but never had this confirmed. Sorry about the poor quality photos!   Edited by pattiewhack
12/01/2009 6:00 pm
|
|
|
|
Moderator
 Australia
16842 Posts |
Quote:
I've heard they used to make pattern coins from lead, but never had this confirmed. Mints sometimes use lead to test the design made from dies before they're hardened and used to strike coins or medals. Lead is soft, so it requires less pressure on the dies to make a nice strong impression from them. These test pieces are called "lead pulls". They're not usually round, because they don't usually use the collar dies in the test striking, and they usually test only one die at a time so most lead pulls are uniface. A proper coin-shaped pattern made of lead is not normal practice. On that basis, I would assume what you've got is a counterfeit coin. The only question is whether it's a contemporary counterfeit, intended to be passed in circulation, or whether it was made much later, in an attempt to fool collectors. The hole makes me think it might be the former - fake coins often had a hole punched through them once they were detected, to try to stop them from re-entering circulation. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
|
|
Pillar of the Community
 Canada
1152 Posts |
very interesting.
That thought also appealed to me. However:
1.) why someone would want to forge a one cent coin (yes, I know that there was a time when they might have been worth forging)
and
2.) why they would even attempt to pass off a lead example (when the original is clearly copper)
escapes me.
In addition, I'm not sure why anyone would chrome plate it. (to make it look silver? but it's a copper coin...)
beats me.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
2830 Posts |
just a possibilty: the "silver" appearance on some forgeries is acheived by rubbing it with mercury: some of the mercury adheres. It's not robust, and quickly wears off, but traces may remain in protected parts of the surface.
Why bother ? That's a tough one.
Peter in Oz
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
2605 Posts |
Forging this piece and "silvering it up" was not necessarily done by the same person or in a short span of time. When I saw this picture right away I thought the "coin" was cast, but I felt the experts should chime in first. This piece could have been an object of one of the authors in the thread "What was the weirdest thing I've done with a coin".  |
|
Valued Member
Canada
480 Posts |
At the time, there were many counterfeits in circulation. This issue was well struck, and I have not seen any counterfeits of it up to now, but seeing one does not surprise me. There were many counterfeits of the Nova Scotia half penny series, which were issued 1823-1832 (or the rare one dated 1382), and 1 penny counterfeits as well. The varieties of the Bouquet sous were privately struck, so there was obviously good money in it. Counterfeits, and underweight tokens, were a major problem into the 1840s. I received a counterfeit quarter in the early 1960's, and recall seeing some from the second war era. Since the loonies and twonies have been issued, I am aware of counterfeits of the loonies in 1987-1989, and counterfeits of the twonies from 2004 and 2005. British pounds are now in circulation with about 1 counterfeit in 100 real coins.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Canada
650 Posts |
I have some 30s slot tokens and one is a exact replica in lead, have no idea why lead other than it is easy to work with.
|
| |
Replies: 6 / Views: 2,016 |
|
Posted 12/01/2009 8:23 pm
