Strange Stamp On 1945 Walking Liberty Half

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Author	Replies: 8 / Views: 3,519
detroitjoe New Member United States 2 Posts	Posted 01/20/2011 9:21 pm Looking for some opinions. I am new to collecting and recently purchased some coins from a coin shop. Included in the lot that I bought was a 1945 Walking Liberty half. It appears worn, but more shiny than most of the other halves that I've added to my stash. The main thing that raised a red flag was a strange marking to the right of lady Liberty. I have seen Chinese knockoffs that have the word "Copy" stamped here, and other fakes with no mark at all. But what the heck is this mark? The coin shop guy said it was likely someone who owned it at some point stamped it with a tool. I have my doubts. I did the "ping" test by placing it on the end of my finger and tapping it with another half dollar. It definitely passed that...same pitch and ring...even my tuner said it was an identical sound to my other coins. Please help! Report this Post to the Staff

Adam_E Pillar of the Community United States 4846 Posts	Posted 01/20/2011 9:23 pm no need to worry, just a counter stamp, its a real coin. Report this Post to the Staff
detroitjoe New Member United States 2 Posts	Posted 01/20/2011 9:29 pm Thanks so much for the quick reply! I guess I should have trusted him after all. I was looking up things like "stamp on coin", etc. on Google and just turning up a lot of stamp and coin pages. Dohhh! Now that you gave me the proper term, I have been able to locate a bunch of info about these stamps. Interesting stuff!! Thanks again for your help! Report this Post to the Staff
chugly Valued Member United States 234 Posts	Posted 01/21/2011 11:59 am Hi Detroitjoe, What you have is a genuine Walking Liberty half dollar that has been counter stamped and pretty harshly cleaned (hence the overly shinny appearance). Unfortunately, these counter stamps are considered damage and can greatly reduce the value of a coin. Some people do collect them and some can be pretty neat, but its best to avoid them if you can. Improper cleaning also greatly reduces the value of a coin and it is a must for any collector learn to recognize original, uncleaned coins. You might also want to research "chop marks" - the counter stamps chopped into US Trade dollars by Chinese merchants. Your coin is still 90% sliver and worth melt value or slightly above (roughly $10). Thanks for posting! Chugly Report this Post to the Staff
ExoGuy Pillar of the Community United States 4416 Posts	Posted 01/21/2011 10:44 pm My guess is that this coin was chopmarked by an oriental broker as a means of authenticating its silver content. The mark looks more like a Chinese character than a logo or tool punch. Try taking your coin to a Chinese restaurant and ask if that's a Chinese character - seriously! Maybe we can all learn something from this. Maybe your coin was once in China? While it's true that counterstamps can lower the value of some coins, particularly those rare dates, it's the common dates that are far more likely to have been stamped. The values of many common date coins can be greatly increased by a desireable counterstamp; one that's attributable to a particular merchant or craftsman. Report this Post to the Staff
Conder101 Bedrock of the Community United States 17884 Posts	Posted 01/22/2011 09:14 am Have you posted this coin before? I ask because I'm sure I've seen it posted online before. Report this Post to the Staff
TreasHunt Pillar of the Community United States 2540 Posts	Posted 01/24/2011 3:26 pm It is real, just someone playing around. Report this Post to the Staff
w1a9c8k5 Pillar of the Community United States 1348 Posts	Posted 01/24/2011 4:18 pm I never understood counter stamping. I have an old large cent I got in a collection that would be really worth a lot if it weren't stamped Report this Post to the Staff
ExoGuy Pillar of the Community United States 4416 Posts	Posted 01/24/2011 6:06 pm It's true that many coins have been stamped for no apparent reason, but the majority that I've seen were done with some purpose in mind; be it to confirm silver content (possibly the reason for this 1945 half), for the purpose of advertising, as a claim check, to serve as a game piece, an ID, a fraternal piece, validation of another stamp, etc. Had some of the better-date counterstamps in my collection, like that 1877 Indian or 1795 half dollar somehow avoided the punch, they may never have come my way ... something to ponder. Report this Post to the Staff
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