1916-D Mercury Dime found - Is it FAKE?

Not positive this is the best sub-forum but I think it has a lot to do with "what it's worth" lol

At first I almost fell over but then thought "this could just be a fake". Looks convincing to the naked eye but then I set up my Canon 5DII and 1:1 macro lens on a tripod with an off camera flash to get some close up pics. It now appears to me like this might have actually been cast? I don't know much about fake coins, how they are usually produced or how to detect them. So I thought I would post up some pictures and see what some of the very knowledgeable people here think of it? Thanks for your input!

It does appear to be silver though and weighs in at 2.4g

 

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Looks cast. Details too "mushy".

-Brian

 

Definitely not genuine. Most likely cast.

 

Its a cast,,,,You can even see the polishing marks that was left on the mold when they cleaned it, just like when they polish a die before they use it. A worn coin like that wouldn´t have those marks unless they polished the die with rocks.
But it is a good fake.....I would keep it just for the heck of it.

 

So are you guys really 100% sure it's fake and there is NO reason to waste the money sending it out? Or is there an off chance that it could actually be real? I just wasn't sure if it's so obviously fake that the grader would sit in his chair laughing when he looked at it...

Big, you say definitely not genuine but based on what? The surface, the wear, the mint mark?

Thanks guys

 

:welcome: MentalVirus,


How about some background where the coin came from ?

 

Sure looks fake to me.

 

It is fake, no doubt about it.

 

Well the short story is there was an old friend of the family that horded some wheat pennies over the years. I have acquired them (about 6000) and searched through about half of them so far. There are some from 1909 to 1958 and everything between including a bunch of steels from 1943. I have also found 5 Indian heads so far, a 1914s cent and 5 mercury dimes mixed in with them. This was one of the mercury dimes.

So, really I have no idea where it came from originally or how long ago he had acquired it. Could have been 30 years ago or 3 years ago...


Guys I understand that you believe it is fake, and maybe it is obviously so, to you, but could you please state why you are so sure or feel that way?

Thanks

 

Although I am nearly certain it is not a genuine coin, the 16D Merc being one of the most counterfeited of all time, and it appears cast. You can contact Dr. James Wiles of CONECA and ask him to look at it. He used to charge about $5-6 + shpping to certify a coin. Then you have the peace of mind that it was looked at by an expert. I don't know what they do with fakes. I would hope any expert would destroy one or stamp it as a "copy" to prevent sale of it to an unsuspecting person.

gary

 

As a quick test, what does it weigh? If the weight is off, it is automatically a fake.

 

He did say 2.4g.

 

It certainly does appear to be fake to me. I've taken a couple more pictures, one of a more heavily worn Mercury first and then another of the same area on the 1916D. It certainly looks cast to me, from the texture of the surface and this section of the leaves on the branches. This is taken with a pretty expensive full frame camera and a 150mm 1:1 macro lens at minimum focal distance. I swear to the eye, in your hand, you can't see any of this and it really looks legit! Looks like a merc in very nice condition! Kind of crazy...

 

The grainy surface, raised bumps and mushy details. Plus the mint mark looks wrong. Liberty's cap blends into the fields. Ok so definitely is a strong word...How bout 99.99999999999% sure it is counterfeit. My opinion.

 

Maybe its me but the coin on top and bottom right looks to be smaller in size

 

Based upon the look of the coin (as others have said earlier), I think it is a fake as well. The best thing to do isto look at it under a little stronger magnification if possible. I bought an old microscope for just these types of occasions and have helped detect counterfeit paper note errors. Haven't had a chance with coins yet.

 

the 16-D Mercury is one of the most counterfeited coins on the planet.

I recommend that anyone who purchases one buys a certified specimen only. Fakes of this coin abound and it is likely that there are actually more fake 16-Ds than there are real ones

 

Definitely IMO fake, it matches no Known 1916-D coin reverses. Although it looks mushy and may be a cast copy, it also could be a poorly treated authentic 1916 (philadelphia) where a MM was put on. The location and look of the MM are suspect to me, could just be an added D to a true coin that then was deliberately roughed up so to pass it as real.

 

Look at the pictures in this post. they are the best evidence of it being a cast counterfeit, kasia, not a genuine Philly coin. This was a good catch by mentalvirus

 

I defer to you, thanks. Yes, good catch by mentalvirus.