Fairly extreme die wear on German 1915-F 1/2 Mark

neildrobertson

I purchased a 1915-F 1/2 Mark from a price list earlier this year, and was amazed to see its condition when I got it. There were die polish lines, and the luster was fairly flat despite not looking cleaned. When I looked closer, it was like they got a physician to engrave the lettering on it. I have a photo below next to a more typical example you'd see from the time.

Worn

Typical

I don't know if this is the result of a die being used excessively without refinishing, or just a product of it being refinished too many times (rather than replaced). I wouldn't be surprised if it was the product of reprioritization of resources for the war effort since I haven't seen this in earlier dates.

Sapyx

I have to say, I see things like that happening on a coin and my first thought is "counterfeit".

neildrobertson

@Sapyx said:
I have to say, I see things like that happening on a coin and my first thought is "counterfeit".

That was one of my first thoughts too. My Jaeger catalog doesn't have this date flagged as one with known counterfeits, and I stuggle to imagine why someone would fake this $10 coin. The first thing I did after getting this coin was to take the photo and send it to the dealer that sold the coin to me and ask him what on Earth was going on with it.

The details in general are lower relief, which is something you'd get from making a counterfeit die. You can also get that with repeatedly polishing of an authentic die. I'm open to arguments in either direction.