Fake? Or Tampered with? You decide.

BNB sorry for the confusion on the coins, I do agree with rzage on that second one ! It looks like a winner if it checks out after you have it in hand . I`d like to have it for sure !

 

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Look for coins better than VG

Hello BNB,
Are you going to put together a circ set of Walking Liberty Half Dollars? As I posted, the 2nd one looks nice & original. Here are a couple D mint walkers from my Dansco album.


Very best regards,
collect89

 

Does anyone know what the 'chopmarked' character represents? Inquiring minds want to know...is it a Chinese 'letter' or 'character'. Forgive me, I don't know Chinese.

 

Just won - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...63877&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_3156wt_1165

Thank god! I've been looking for a fair priced 21-d for some time..

Boy, is my safe deposit box getting full!

 

Example of Chinese chop marks

 

I agree with coleguy, the chop looks very suspicious. I'm a chopmarked collector and I've never seen that chop. It looks much too crude - most chops have a certain elegance about them [calligraphy is taught in elementary school in China and Taiwan]. The coin may be real but I don't think the chop is.

 

My girlfriend is from Taiwan. I'll tell her about you..

Since you're from Asia, have you seen these chop marks before?

 

Actually, I'm from Canada but have lived in Taiwan 17 years. Chopmarks are my specialty. I haven't seen that particular chop that I can recall but I'll look around and report back.

 

Chopmark aside the coin in the op has very strange wear and the head on the eagle looks wrong. Put the op coin next to the coin on the third page. the shape of the head is different.
Also the rims don't have as much wear as they should for the amount of wear on the rest of the coin.

Unless the coin was cleaned with a wire wheel, the wear patterns are suspicious at least.

 

The character could be Chinese but might not. My wife is Chinese and says it is nothing she has seen--looks like it might be made up. Also is too crude for any adult to make who is Chinese. Might have been a young child. Probably not Chinese person who made it. Was not punched by one stamp but my many small punches so doesn't look like typical stamp. Can't imagine anyone using this for a professional stamp of proof b/c is too crude. Not sure the motive unless ignorant of damage done or intent to add value which it doesn't. Surface of the coin seems a little odd to me. Could be lighting. Have studied Chinese for about 25 years and can say the balance of the character is way off, and missing strokes, if it was intended to be Chinese.

 

Many chopmarks are not Chinese characters. Some are symbols, numbers, Roman letters, etc. so you have to judge chopmarks as not only Chinese characters but a host of other possibilities. Nevertheless, I agree with weifin. The chop looks crude and it doesn't look like it was stamped.
Has anyone contacted the seller to hear his story about the coin? He didn't even describe the coin as chopmarked so a collector like me would never have even found the coin on eBay. I never look under 'Love tokens, hobo nickels, etc.' for chopmarked pieces. I suspect the seller doesn't even know what he has sold.

 

I could be wrong, but the chop mark was done by what we engravers call wiggle cut, it,s done with a hand push flat graver, a engraver wiggles his graver side to side as he cuts, this give him more control and less chance of a slip, you can see the wiggles in the cut on this coin..Wiggle cut today is used mostly in bright cut western engraving such as belt buckles, spurs, etc...[ps] If anyone is interested I,ll do the same chop mark on a silver coin and let the forum view it..

 

I just noticed this thread, and my first thought was that the "chop" was a composite of multiple strikes with a small "wiggly" tool. (and then I saw the posts above).

 

Yes, I have a silver dollar I can send you, but you post the pics. I'll be glad to cover costs, just PM me the info. thx