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 Replies: 40 / Views: 3,509 |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1582 Posts |
This caused me to go back and look at my holed coins - the 1848 large cent has the hole drilled where the 1 should be in the date. Counterfeit? That brings up another question - why would someone counterfeit a one cent coin, if it were, indeed, a counterfeit? This is interesting.
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Valued Member
United States
218 Posts |
quote:
Originally posted by Ralph
This caused me to go back and look at my holed coins - the 1848 large cent has the hole drilled where the 1 should be in the date. Counterfeit? That brings up another question - why would someone counterfeit a one cent coin, if it were, indeed, a counterfeit? This is interesting.
one cent used to actually buy things... |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1247 Posts |
[quote] Originally posted by swamperboblongnine009 - you asked about the position of the hole in the 1838 Zs OM counterfeit 8R "Was the hole a way of getting rid of a mistake?" http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...110027833731Actually I was trying to point out the fact that the position of the hole is such that the coin would not hang upright when suspended from a string or chain. The normal position for a jewelry mount is top dead center but a cancellation hole is more like the one shown on this coin. I'm not familar with the term. Is it a coin cancelled by authorities because it was found to be underweight?  If that's what it means, was the forger perhaps trying to explain an underweight forgery with the hole? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5362 Posts |
Ralph - You ask That brings up another question - why would someone counterfeit a one cent coin, if it were, indeed, a counterfeit? This is interesting. There are counterfeits of all denominations of US coins - either made at the time of the originals or since. A rather common forgery seen in Boston was an 1893 US Indian Head cent that was made in the mid-1890s. There were so many that the Secret Service got involved and there were several articles in the local papers. Some of these articles have been reprinted in standard books on counterfeiting as period sources. longnine009 - the hole was drilled by any number of different people from quasi-official (bankers) to merchants (who had gotten ripped off) to coin dealers (who did it well into the 20th century). The drill hole was meant simply to identify a coin as a forgery. It could be placed anywhere. I know of collectors who specialize in varieties based on the location of the holes. The hole stopped the coin from circulating freely. US Counterfeits have always been illegal to spend even when identified and the same applied to foreign coins until they were demonetized in 1857. The hole would never be made by the forger - with one exception - a modern copy of an old counterfeit. Because old counterfeits are now valuable there is a growing business of forging counterfeits. In that case, you might see a forger add a drill hole for believability, but that would be a counterfeit made in the past few years only. You also mentioned counterfeits being underweight. Not all counterfeits are underweight. Some are too heavy and some are exactly the correct weight with the correct assay of silver. The hole was to stop a coin from passing at face value. One fact you may not be aware of is that because silver values fluctuated there were many years when a dollar contained far less than a dollar's worth of silver. At the low point it contained about 23 cents worth so in the 1890s a very lucrative forgery business developed making full weight silver counterfeits. The forgers made a 4 fold return on their investment in silver if the got a dollar to pass at face value. The recently "discovered" micro O Morgan dollars are examples of this kind of forgery as are numerous Portrait 8R coins made in the 1890s to be spent in China.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1247 Posts |
SwamperBob, Thank You for your excellent replies! These topics on forgeries just get more and more interesting each time someting comes up.  |
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Valued Member
New Zealand
227 Posts |
Man SwamperBob I just love your posts, I learn sooo much every time I read one  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5362 Posts |
longnine009 and grouse12 - thanks for the comments. If you have any specific questions in this area do not hesitate to ask.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1582 Posts |
SwamperBob - you are a wealth of knowledge.
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Valued Member
United States
179 Posts |
Fascinating thread...thought I would mention that I have quite a collection of holed coins of many types, especially 19th century us and canadian...I am getting a silver jewelry maker friend to put jewelry type rings in the coins for my 7 yr old grand daughter, a Young Numismatist, to wear on a bracelet and interchangeably on a necklace. It's a great way for a young person to actually touch and get a feel for the history of these old coins that most kids don't even know exist.
hey, it beats having them lay around in an old forgotten box somewhere!
Best regards to all,
Dennis
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2177 Posts |
quote:
Originally posted by fastfords1
Fascinating thread...thought I would mention that I have quite a collection of holed coins of many types, especially 19th century us and canadian...I am getting a silver jewelry maker friend to put jewelry type rings in the coins for my 7 yr old grand daughter, a Young Numismatist, to wear on a bracelet and interchangeably on a necklace. It's a great way for a young person to actually touch and get a feel for the history of these old coins that most kids don't even know exist.
hey, it beats having them lay around in an old forgotten box
somewhere!
Hey, I want one!! Hope your daughter comes to appreciate this item which holds so much history. It will be one of a kind.
Best regards to all,
Dennis
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Posted 09/10/2006 11:56 pm
