What Are These ... Electrotype Blanks?

Rehctelf · November 11, 2015 12:22PM

Does anyone know what these are? Just found them in the attic in a box of my old coin stuff. I have about 50 of them, different types, old, seem to be some kind of ceramic, looks to be actual size of the respective coin. A coin face on one side and blank on the other ... can't remember where I got them. I'm thinking some kind of base for creating electrotypes or some other counterfeit maybe. Your thoughts?

Treashunt · November 12, 2015 12:27AM

early Chinese tests for their 'minting' services?

oih82w8 · November 12, 2015 12:30AM

I have not heard of www.humanovation.com as an imaging site, but your image is not showing up on IE11...at least on this end.

coindeuce · November 20, 2015 2:01PM

Used to be smoeone around here called hisself Fletcher. He either quit or got bammed. Maybe you could look him up and ask him. He had the same avatar.

Broadstruck · November 20, 2015 2:24PM

They might be ceramic printing impressions used for book page embossing.

Rehctelf · November 20, 2015 3:49PM

Originally posted by: coindeuce
Used to be smoeone around here called hisself Fletcher. He either quit or got bammed. Maybe you could look him up and ask him. He had the same avatar.

I'm quite sure it wasn't the same avatar as I only purchased the coin two weeks ago and imaged it shortly thereafter ;-)

Rehctelf · November 20, 2015 3:51PM

Originally posted by: Broadstruck
They might be ceramic printing impressions used for book page embossing.

I hadn't thought of that ... good call. Although, they seem a bit brittle for embossing ... still, I'll look in that direction. Thanks ;-)

lordmarcovan · November 20, 2015 3:56PM

I like Broadstruck's theory.

I have seen an old book with an impression of a Seated Liberty quarter on one of the pages. Always assumed it came from a real coin, but now that I think of it, I wonder if it might have been something like this?

CaptHenway · November 21, 2015 12:11AM

Printing slugs would be backwards so as to make a normal image.

The crude date on the 1800 dollar is very typical of the mass-produced Chinese counterfeits of the 1990's and 2000's. Hard to tell about the dates on the others, but they too seem crudely altered.

One possible but totally speculative suggestion: a Chinese counterfeiter made positive ceramic impressions of coins and then cast molten steel against them to make negative dies.

Let's see some better pictures of them.

TD

winky · November 21, 2015 5:09AM

Something different and neat.

What Are These ... Electrotype Blanks?

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