What happened to this coin?

zski123

Recently purchased this 1897-P Barber Half in an estate auction. Can someone explain what caused the apparent "cracking" on this coin? If you look closely, it almost appears to reflect the image of the bust. Just curious. Thanks!

Namvet69

Could be a defective planchet or improper alloy mix. IMO. Peace Roy

Treashunt

Or, it could be a ground recovery.

ricko

Interesting effect... I would say planchet flaw exacerbated by wear or time in ground...Cheers, RickO

MarkKelley

Weigh it. Could be a cast counterfeit.

Batman23

My first thought is counterfeit.

gumby1234

Looks exactly like my counterfeit Barber half.

PerryHall

When I saw the pic, my first thought is fake. How much does it weigh?

LanceNewmanOCC

@zski123 said:

are those little die chips in the 8 and 9?

bsshog40

I'm wondering fake also. Soo much displaced metal in most all of the lettering and date.

Martin

I’m going with not genuine

Martin

Cougar1978

I have never used them (CAC) and wonder how rank and file players (average to low budget) will react to their slabs if more expensive especially in a recession. I probably will pick up a few of their slabs in the course of business unless it’s some deal that makes me the end user.

I really like the PCGS registry (inventory manager) for managing that inventory segment. What CAC does with theirs no concern to me as not some collector doing sets. What is mainly of interest to me is how many CAC slabs on eBay by Jun 30, 2023. Will they even be close to Anacs, ICG?

lilolme

@LanceNewmanOCC said:

@zski123 said:

are those little die chips in the 8 and 9?

Well all the little blobs in some of the letters/numbers are not looking good.
.

.

.

JBK

I vote fake. Too many blobs of extra metal in the devices.

johnny9434

pass, theres to much going on for me, jmo

BryceM

.

BryceM

@Cougar1978 said:
I have never used them (CAC) and wonder how rank and file players (average to low budget) will react to their slabs if more expensive especially in a recession. I probably will pick up a few of their slabs in the course of business unless it’s some deal that makes me the end user.

I really like the PCGS registry (inventory manager) for managing that inventory segment. What CAC does with theirs no concern to me as not some collector doing sets. What is mainly of interest to me is how many CAC slabs on eBay by Jun 30, 2023. Will they even be close to Anacs, ICG?

@Cougar1978 I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest maybe you were trying to respond to a different thread?????

vplite99

Fake.

Onastone

Agreed not genuine. Look at that A in America....couldn't be worse.

zski123

12.38 grams was the weight. Taking it in tomorrow to my friends shop and placing on his Sigma. I looked at examples of issues resulting in blobs but so many and their placement???? I'm guessing fake as well.

Steven59

Lamination from a fake planchet strike????

coinkat

provide the weight... I really would rather not opine without an adequate investigation and review of those facts- At this juncture, you will not like to read my premature thoughts

JWP

Was it possibly rubbed so that some crud or dirt could very moved. One picture looks a little shiny but imagine that's from the lighting.

blitzdude

Maiden China. SRRY!

dcarr

@blitzdude said:
Maiden China. SRRY!

The item in question is a counterfeit.
But it is a domestic cast fake made out of pot metal for the purpose of spending at face value to earn a profit.
It is not a Chinese counterfeit (which are recent fakes made to fool collectors).

zski123

@coinkat said:
provide the weight... I really would rather not opine without an adequate investigation and review of those facts- At this juncture, you will not like to read my premature thoughts

I did. It's 12.38 grams. Took it to my local dealer and placed it on his Sigma. It's 90% silver and the diameter is correct. He thinks it's fake but it looks like an old counterfeit but this begs the question why someone would counterfeit a coin that isn't a rarity using the same silver content? I didn't pay a lot which I'm grateful for.

coinkat

I don't know what to make of this... the weight would be within the accepted range. I wonder if this is a contemporary counterfeit made in a similar vein as the so-called Micro O Morgans- 1896-o; 1900-o and 1902-o- might have a connection to the free silver movement

dcarr

@zski123 said:

@coinkat said:
provide the weight... I really would rather not opine without an adequate investigation and review of those facts- At this juncture, you will not like to read my premature thoughts

I did. It's 12.38 grams. Took it to my local dealer and placed it on his Sigma. It's 90% silver and the diameter is correct. He thinks it's fake but it looks like an old counterfeit but this begs the question why someone would counterfeit a coin that isn't a rarity using the same silver content? I didn't pay a lot which I'm grateful for.

If you get a chance, have an XRF test done to measure the metallic content. The "Sigma" is a useful device, but in this case I think the XRF would provide the definitive data,

zski123

@coinkat said:
I don't know what to make of this... the weight would be within the accepted range. I wonder if this is a contemporary counterfeit made in a similar vein as the so-called Micro O Morgans- 1896-o; 1900-o and 1902-o- might have a connection to the free silver movement

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. I'm going to have an XRF test per another suggestion.