Mercury dime question

Was this done by someone and how?

 

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nail/screw & hammer

 

Someone with too much time on their hands, and only they would know why.

 

Fred nailed it!

 

Looks like it was pierced with a square nail. I have heard of folks nailing a coin to
their doorway for a talisman.

 

The lady I work with brought me her coins a while back to give her an idea of what she has.... One coin is a 1916 Mercury dime and it too has a square hole punched dead through where the mintmark would be... Certainly is the work of an old square nail. I would bet it was done to adorn a young lady's neck.

 

I hope nobody tries to nail a dime to my daughter's throat...

 

Definitely damaged by a nail. Why and when are only the person that did it knows.

Edited to correct spelling

 

Square nails were once called cut nails. They would cut a hole in wood without making it split.

 

I was always taught that they were called "cut nails" because they were cut from a sheet of metal. Machines doing this could turn out nails a lot faster than people doing it by hand.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nail_(fastener)#Cut

 

Is that a slight on today's mail service? LOL

 

Corrected, thanks

 

Perhaps a small head square center punch, used in machine shops, could have been the crude method. Interesting post for guesses and opinion. Thank you.

 

Note the end of a standard nail.