Interesting fake shield nickel

JamesM

Had this sitting around for some time, but know very little about it.

Just looking for information, was it very common to see fakes of this type?

Looks to me to be made from a softer metal and it looks like it did in fact circulate

Value?

STONE

I know one board member who can comment more accurately than I can in regards to Bogo Shield Nickels,
but these do not seem to be commonly counterfeited, relatively speaking. I have ran into more Three Cent
Silver Bogo's than I have Shield Nickels, although both are fairly obscure and difficult to acquire.

I believe there are 6-7 different dates known on Bogo Shield Nickels, and there are probably several
additional varieties within those dates. This is probably an 1866, maybe 1867. If you can see a date that
would be quite helpful.

Edited to add:
You asked about value of such a piece. There was a rather nice looking one on eBay (far nicer than yours
I'm afraid) which sold somewhere between $100-150. I bid up to $75-80, but at least two bidders wanter
it more than me that day! Given that, I would be a buyer of your example for $30 (mostly because I need
one for my collection!)

JamesM

<< <i>I know one board member who can comment more accurately than I can in regards to Bogo Shield Nickels,
but these do not seem to be commonly counterfeited, relatively speaking. I have ran into more Three Cent
Silver Bogo's than I have Shield Nickels, although both are fairly obscure and difficult to acquire.

I believe there are 6-7 different dates known on Bogo Shield Nickels, and there are probably several
additional varieties within those dates. This is probably an 1866, maybe 1867. If you can see a date that
would be quite helpful.

Edited to add:
You asked about value of such a piece. There was a rather nice looking one on eBay (far nicer than yours
I'm afraid) which sold somewhere between $100-150. I bid up to $75-80, but at least two bidders wanter
it more than me that day! Given that, I would be a buyer of your example for $30 (mostly because I need
one for my collection!) >>



Sadly the date seams to be gone on this coin if it was ever fully cast I cannot be sure, but if I had to guess I can see what looks to be the upper part of a 7 but its very very faint so if I was to ever sell it would be most likely as a no date. In addition I would like to say thanks for the offer if I change my mind on selling it ill let you know; I all ways have a hard time selling something I only have one of. Its really amazing that someone would take the time to cast this but clearly it was worth it and it did in fact work or it would not have been done.

howards

This appears to be a cast lead counterfeit.

Most of the shield nickel counterfeits I've seen are false die counterfeits (which, IMO, are much more interesting than cast lead fakes).

Regarding the date, it has to be 1866 or 1867 because those are the only two years with rays on the reverse.

I own two of these cast counterfeits. One I paid $1 for and the other cost me $2. I wouldn't expect much value-wise on your piece. The false die counterfeits can go much higher - I've paid a little over $100 for a nice one.

There are perhaps as many as 20 different false die counterfeits known. Some of the different ones are mix-and-match obverse/reverse dies, implying that the came from the same counterfeiter.

Photos of a nice false die counterfeit: