1885 Seated Dime... Counterfeit??

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pcgs69
pcgs69 Posts: 4,406 ✭✭✭✭
in Metal Detecting
Got this piece today at the "pre Civil War" house where I found the 1930s ring earlier this year. It rang up just about as a zincoln would. When I pulled it out I thought it was lead but it wiped clean too easily, almost like silver would. Got it home and inspected it... first side... entirely blank. Turn it over... it has a design!! what is it? Wait a second... it's a seated dime?? I can read 1885. The question is... is it real? Something traumatic has obviously happened to it. It sort of looks like there are tiny holes in it in places, like it's hollow. Weight is 2.0 grams even. Any chance this thing's real?

Written after initial post: I put a drop of silver testing solution and it turned a darker reddish color, which generally indicates it is silver. If it was lead or tin, it would have turned yellow...

Also found what I think is a dog tag from 1926?

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Comments

  • Jinx86
    Jinx86 Posts: 3,729 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Looks as if it was in a fire or thrown away with the garbage and burned. Ive found a few silvers that looked like this searching though a dump site from the 1910s to the 1940s.
    Yours almost looks like it had more heat to it though, to make it have that wrinkle effect around the edges.
  • loditom
    loditom Posts: 684
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    Man that is one ugly ladyimage I don't know when I first saw it looked like it was led,but after
    you said you tested and came up positive for silver,then I would say it went
    through one serious fire.

    HH,Tom
    image
  • ricko
    ricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    Sure looks like a fire damaged coin...Is the reverse totally blank? Or is some trace of design left? May also have been intended as a love token before the fire. Cheers, RickO
  • johnny9434
    johnny9434 Posts: 34,049 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    ouch. that one hurts image
  • Rickc300
    Rickc300 Posts: 876 ✭✭
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    Ouch to say the least! It is about a half gram too light, or in other words about a 5th of the coin is gone but it doesn't look that way to me... A contemporary counterfeit maybe? The hand gripping the shield doesn't look right, it should have more of a side view of the arm with the thumb more pronounced and the arm itself should almost be circular in appearance with very little difference from the shoulder to the wrist. I know what I am trying to say, but am having a hard time explaining what I mean...Here is a pic I just found of an 1885 dime for you to compare yours to.

    image
    Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed lamb contesting that vote. Benjamin Franklin - 1779

    image
    1836 Capped Liberty
    dime. My oldest US
    detecting find so far.
    I dig almost every
    signal I get for the most
    part. Go figure...
  • JoePA
    JoePA Posts: 51
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    I'm going into the fire camp with this one, looks like severe heat damage - any evidence of one in your digging in the area - other fused metal etc..?
    -Joe

    -Weinman Fan
  • pcgs69
    pcgs69 Posts: 4,406 ✭✭✭✭
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    << <i>Sure looks like a fire damaged coin...Is the reverse totally blank? Or is some trace of design left? May also have been intended as a love token before the fire. Cheers, RickO >>



    The reverse is entirely blank. Maybe it was a love token from a love gone wrong!

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