worn half dime--gotta see this

Musky1011 · August 23, 2006 11:03AM

Picked it out of a 1/2 price box

Quite the "Odd" wear pattern!!!!!!!

Took this half dime to work to put on the optical comparator
couldn't see anything on the obverse, perfectly smooth.
How does this happen to wear like this????

Jim

DNADave · August 23, 2006 11:06AM

neat.....and what the heck is an optical comparator? A comparison microscope?

TorinoCobra71 · August 23, 2006 11:07AM

Quite Odd Indeed, One Side Wiped Out and the other OK........

TorinoCobra71

tmot99 · August 23, 2006 11:07AM

I'm guessing it was filed down to make a love token but it never was finished. My neighbor brought over some coins for me to look at and he had a Walker just like it.

Musky1011 · August 23, 2006 11:08AM

basically an optical comparator is a device that magnifies objects
10 times the actual size just backwards

actually it works good for coins

Jim

Leiana · August 23, 2006 11:11AM

<< I'm guessing it was filed down to make a love token but it never was finished. >>

-Amanda

JRocco · August 23, 2006 11:21AM

When we were kids we used to file down one side of a Lincoln on the sidewalk when we were bored---maybe kids were bored back then too..

lordmarcovan · August 23, 2006 5:09PM

I ended up with a nickel three-cent piece with a blank obverse and a fairly nice reverse, once. Lady Liberty was gone and only the side with the wreath and III were there. It had obviously been planed off, and my theory is that somebody was preparing to make a love token out of it and then didn't, for some reason. I took it to a jeweler and had them engrave a friend's initials on it- he is a forum member and perhaps will post a picture of it if he reads this.

I have a similar theory about your half dime, there. I think it was being prepped as a love token but never got engraved. Or maybe it did get lightly engraved and then the engraving wore off. The blank side of your piece, from what I can tell in the picture, is slightly smoother than the the 3cN I had- you could still see some file marks on that. Yours looks like it has seen some wear in addition to being filed down (if in fact it was filed down at all- it's just a theory of mine).

19Lyds · August 23, 2006 10:54PM

Definitely a "half" dime!

PerryHall · August 23, 2006 11:00PM

Check the weight. That should confim that it was filed down.

rhedden · August 24, 2006 12:57AM

Here is a matching Seated dime for you. My friend got this in change in 2004!

lathmach · August 24, 2006 4:22AM

I own a Nikon 10X optical comparator. It's an older machine, but does the job for me in my machine shop.
These used to be referred to as shadowgraphs.
The ones with reflection computer enhancement are just plain amazing for viewing coins.
If I were to have a grading company, I would use one with line drawing screens of all the different coins and major varieties, for counterfeit detection and variety attribution.

Ray

lordmarcovan · August 24, 2006 9:21AM

<< Here is a matching Seated dime for you. My friend got this in change in 2004! >>

Wow!!

Does that have traces of engraving? Like a worn-down love token might have? Or are those just random scratches?

Conder101 · August 25, 2006 12:40PM

<< Check the weight. That should confim that it was filed down. >>

You might still not be able to tell. It is suprising how little the weight is reduced even in removing the entire design on one side. On a copper Lincoln cent you can plane one side smooth and still be within the mints legal weight tolerance.

BlindedByEgo · August 25, 2006 12:58PM

<< I'm guessing it was filed down to make a love token but it never was finished. My neighbor brought over some coins for me to look at and he had a Walker just like it. >>

I agree with you.

HTubbs · August 25, 2006 12:59PM

<< Here is a matching Seated dime for you. My friend got this in change in 2004!

>>

Wow! How did he get it in change?

rhedden · September 1, 2006 2:06AM

Does that have traces of engraving? Like a worn-down love token might have? Or are those just random scratches?

I think they are random digs & scratches. I feel that this coin was embedded in the surface of a floor or bar for 100 years or so, whereupon one side of it was totally trampled and obliterated.

Wow! How did he get it in change?

Playing poker with a bunch of drunken college students!

GoldenEyeNumismatics · September 1, 2006 3:18AM

<< I'm guessing it was filed down to make a love token but it never was finished. My neighbor brought over some coins for me to look at and he had a Walker just like it. >>

I agree!

worn half dime--gotta see this

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