Hi everyone! I bought this commemorative 2019 China 5-Yuan coin (the first in a series about their World Heritage sites). The reason for my purchase was to check out the security features that I had read in NUMISTA and elsewhere, namely, the “micro dots” (to the left and right of the farmer on the reverse). But while taking a magnified photo to check out those dots, I noticed what looks like a Doubled Die Reverse! After searching so many LMCs and being disappointed by so many close-calls, have I finally found a true doubled die? And I wasn’t even looking for it. Look at the peaks and left sides of the hills above the farmer. What do you guys think? Web photos of this coin do not show the double outlines. Here’s a close-up of the area. And here’s another photo of the coin without magnification. You can already see doubling (with just the naked eye) in most of the outlines of the hills. So… Have I finally found one?! Is this a doubled die reverse? But to possibly burst my own bubble, if this is a DDR, why are the characters on the bottom normal? I recall a question from a member here asking why we seldom see doubling on Lincoln’s bust, but only on the Year, or on the word “LIBERTY,” or on the Motto. The senior members here explained that the effects of the rotation are less pronounced at the center of the coin and becomes more distinct as we traverse radially outwards – which makes sense. But this coin appears to exhibit the reverse situation. The doubling is quite visible around the center, with no traces near the rim. Why? Unless this never was a DDR in the first place? Looking forward to reading your explanations. And, as always, thanks for the education. (I still have questions about the security features (my initial reason for getting this coin) but I’ll make a separate post this weekend about them.)
Thanks, me too. It celebrates Tai Shan mountain, one of their World Heritage sites. There's also a "T" and an "S" stamped onto the hills if you look closely.
Thanks. Too bad I couldn't get any expert opinion on whether it's true doubling or not. Oh well.... still a keeper.
Not sure about the doubling but there are several security (anti-counterfeiting) marks on the coins and 2 varieties
Those were actually my original reason for getting this coin. I wanted to know how they do the dots and also question the practicality of security features that are not easily visible to the naked eye. What good are they then? But I'll start a separate thread this weekend.
