Ever seen a Magnetic Seated Half? In a PCGS Holder
StrikeOutXXX
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In one of our Facebook coin selling groups, one of the sellers sold this coin awhile back raw. The buyer returned it as fake because it was magnetic and the seller posted this video of it at the time.
I think most folks thought it was fake, some suggested it was plugged and filled, and a few thought it could be something magnetic struck in.
Obv raw (he didn't have a reverse shot)
Edit - he found the reverse shot
Still raw with a small magnet attached to the flip
The seller didn't believe it was fake (badly cleaned) but not fake. Despite the vast majority thinking it was fake, he sent it in anyhow. Just came back.
Slab Obv
Slab Rev
Now that it's in a slab, the smaller magnets shown when raw don't work through the slab, but his dealer that sent it in had an industrial sized one which holds it:
I saw his follow up post just as he sold it to someone he said writes articles for Coin Weekly? Hopefully the new owner is a member here and can add what he finds out. I would have loved to get this to try to figure it out myself.
I just thought it was pretty cool and different - anyone have any thoughts on this one?
"You Suck Award" - February, 2015
Discoverer of 1919 Mercury Dime DDO - FS-101
Comments
Interesting. Maybe irradiated? Some of the atomic blast test coins have altered atomic structures.
That's interesting for sure
HAPPY COLLECTING
Fakes have fooled TPGs before and likely will always be a challenge with the first through. Perhaps this. Silver/copper will not attract to a regular magnet. Slight attraction to a neodymium magnet but it will not stick to one.
bob
1857-o half dollar Chinese copy:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/United-States-Liberty-Seated-Half-Dollars-No-Motto-Above-Eagle-1857-O-Brass-Plated-Silver-Copy/32860280703.html?
Graders probably didn't spend much time on it due to the rough appearance. Tried to copy picture of genuine from Coinfacts for comparison. Wasn't able to copy and paste. Shame we've lost that ability.
Hmm... Interesting! Post to watch.
@AUandAG It doesn't present like an AliBaba special.
If you watch the video, the magnet only attracts at one spot, basically just at/below the kneecap - same place the pic with the magnet on the flip is at. Whatever is attracting the magnet is pretty isolated - it isn't the whole coin. I think that little clue is what prompted a few to think perhaps it was holed and filled at one time with a magnetic material. I can't see it in the pictures, but who knows.
I've seen pictures of struck-in/retained struck-through metal objects (usually staples) but they are almost always visible on the outside of the coin and usually happens during the strike. This had me and others thinking perhaps a smallish piece of magnetic material was rolled inside the strip?
Hoping the new owner is a member here, or publishes his findings at some point, it's intriguing to say the least.
"You Suck Award" - February, 2015
Discoverer of 1919 Mercury Dime DDO - FS-101
Perhaps @Insider2 has come across this before?
OMG, how awful !!!
@StrikeOutXXX I did not pick that up in the video. Sure is weird, I see no evidence of a plug so a strike "in" might be real.
bob
Weight correct?
Specific Gravity?
Check edge for holes drilled to steal silver and filled with iron or nickel rods?
Sawed in half and reconnected over steel plate to use as magician ‘s trick coin?
Just listing some of the questions a professional Authenticator should think about.
Those types of AliExpress listings almost always show a genuine coin for the product picture. The actual product will not look that good.
It almost looks plugged and tooled...
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Perhaps the plug is magnetic...
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It's exactly the spot where the magnet holds...
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Not being familiar with trade dollars, I can only provide general personal observation on counterfeits being slabbed by TPGs. I noticed that it's more likely to see one in a Details holder - perhaps once the damage has been identified there's less scrutiny around the coin's authenticity?
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You may be on to something @asheland possibly some disturbance there on the reverse, I hadn't stared at that picture a lot since I edited it in late after he found it. I didn't see any such obvious mark on the obverse.
And just to be clear - I wasn't trying to slam PCGS - I don't think the coin is counterfeit personally, but... holed at one time or an error of some type is my personal opinion.
"You Suck Award" - February, 2015
Discoverer of 1919 Mercury Dime DDO - FS-101
It's not an error of any type or kind.
for PCGS. A 49+-Year PNG Member...A full numismatist since 1972, retired in 2022
maybe a chunk of metal that fell into the bar of silver that was rolled out and minted into the half?
Assuming it is drilled and plugged, as proposed, maybe it was used as a magician's coin at some point in it's life? Easier for a shlock magician to make it "disappear" if it sticks to something!
Does that fourth red stripe have a slight bend to the left in it?
It does seem to bend to the left at one point.... That coin would have to be examined in hand by an expert... something is obviously wrong if magnetic...Cheers, RickO
Maybe it an experimental coin by the U.S.
If there's a chunk of iron it it, the chunk should be able to be magnetized by a strong magnet, and then the location pinpointed with the paper and iron filing trick everyone learned in elementary school. A dual-energy x-ray should be able to pick it out, too.
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Yea @messydesk would be easy if I/someone here had it, but sadly it was already mailed to the new owner when I messaged the seller on FB. Still hoping the new owner is a member here and can help solve the mystery.
While I do see the area pointed out on the reverse that is a little wonky, I can't see it on the obverse, so I'm still torn on something metallic in the planchet vs previously holed/filled. If I look where the magnet sticks in the video and picture, and flip the coin, I would think it would be a bit more in the upper-right of the coin vs where the bent shield lines are, but without your test to pinpoint, hard to tell from pics.
I suppose someone could have been practicing on a sub-$100 coin filling a hole to try it on a more expensive one, but I would like to think PCGS would have picked up on the holed part if it had been.
"You Suck Award" - February, 2015
Discoverer of 1919 Mercury Dime DDO - FS-101
People do submit coins where everybody says to themselves "Why on Earth would somebody submit this?" TPG Authenticator/Graders sometimes blow off what look like nothing special coins without examining them properly. That's how Very Early ANACS accidentally certified a bogus 1959 wheat back cent. The discrepancy did not register.
One possible explanation for this piece. Something pointy (thing of a steel dart tip) poked into the coin and broke off. That COULD explain the displaced red stripe and the localized magnetism. I am not saying that this is what happened, but just that this is a plausible explanation. The piece needs to be examined properly.
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