Is this Barber Quarter a Contemporary Counterfeit?

WarNickelHoarder · February 25, 2008 9:10AM

Hello all,

I stopped into a local coin shop today to sell and trade a few items. The owner gave me a very good price on junk silver, so I decided to take full amount in trade. When I got home, I looked through the coins to see if I could cherry anything the dealer might have missed and found a 1934 Heavy Motto Washington Quarter as well as this Barber. The coin purports to be an 1892-O, but I don't believe it to be authentic. The weight is off, and does not have the "ring" of real silver. I have never collected counterfeits and am not at all versed in them. Considering that it is a common date of minimal collector value, is it safe to assume that this is a contemporary counterfeit, and if so, does it have any value? The images are not as bad as they may appear at first. The coin is very porous and does have a yellow stain on the obverse.

Thanks,

Tom

sinin1 · February 25, 2008 9:17AM

yes a bad fake

probably not even silver

charley · February 25, 2008 9:20AM

Ck. the rim very carefully. Then see if you can get the coin to come apart. Respectfully, John Curlis

options26 · February 25, 2008 9:31AM

Yep, looks like a cast copy out of lead or some other soft metal.

BobSav · February 25, 2008 9:39AM

A "dealer" sold that as SILVER....

Bob

PerryHall · February 25, 2008 9:42AM

Cast lead or pot metal. Usually, they would be silver plated and then spent.

lordmarcovan · February 25, 2008 9:50AM

A really bad looking fake.

I do believe it might be a contemporary counterfeit designed to pass in commerce, though. Merchants probably didn't check out their change as thoroughly as we modern numismatists look at coins, so maybe it could've passed back then, when it looked a bit better?

I think it's kind of a cool pickup, on your part. Ugly, but rather interesting.

I think the yellow gunk might come off with acetone.

Elcontador · February 25, 2008 9:52AM

1) Make sure you're current on your tetanus shot
2) Bite the coin to see if indeed it is silver and not a softer metal. Saw that one in an old Amos and Andy show.

lordmarcovan · February 25, 2008 10:24AM

Looks like Amos n' Andy, and the subsequent three generations of their families, ALL took a test chomp on it, already!

WarNickelHoarder · February 25, 2008 10:51AM

<< <i>A "dealer" sold that as SILVER....

Bob >>

It was mixed in with a whole bunch of junk silver and I seriously doubt that he even noticed this piece. At most I am out a grand total of $2.50 and will throw this in my box of oddities.

lordmarcovan · February 25, 2008 12:33PM

Eh. That's not bad for $2.50.

I wouldn't wanna pay much more than a buck to a buck or two, personally, but it's worth about what you paid, I reckon, as a curiosity.

Come to think of it, as a contemporary counterfeit, it might actually carry more interest (and therefore potential value, albeit modest) than it would have if it were a genuine damaged silver piece.

Broadstruck · February 25, 2008 1:14PM

Looks like plastic left in someone pants pocket in the dryer at high heat... or someone played a trick on Helen Keller?

DoubleEagle59 · February 25, 2008 1:16PM

a fake!! and a bad one at that......UGH!!

Cratylus · February 25, 2008 1:19PM

A guaranteed fake, sorry.

Is this Barber Quarter a Contemporary Counterfeit?

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