Yes machined dime hollowed out ,and a cent cut down to fit in the dime. Over the years I have found quite a few like this.
I once found a penny in a Coinstar reject bin that had been filed down to the size of a dime. It was not a "magician's coin" but was probably made to fool a vending machine.
Back in the 70s we used to pick up the round steel blanks that got popped out of electrical boxes on construction sites. If I remember correctly they were the size of a quarter and would work in some vending machines!
Not quite. This is how the magician's trick coin, which you used to see advertised in the back of comic books along with the "X-ray glasses" and the "amazing sea monkeys" was usually made: Half of the dime was ground off, not changing the diameter. Half of a cent was ground off, AND its diameter was trimmed down to match that of the dime. The two pieces were glued together with a thin steel sheet between the two pieces. A second cent was hollowed out, usually on the back, and a thin magnet glued to the bottom of the shell. The half dime, half cent piece was placed inside the shell with the cent side out. The steel plate held it to the magnet. The "magician" would show both sides of the "normal" cent and than, using sleight of hand and a lot of practice, pop the half dime/half cent piece out and show the dime side, palming the shell.
Interesting. I would guess this one is glued together as you described, but not sure if there's a steel plate sandwiched in the middle? Time for a magnet test!
I have one where half the Wheat and half the Dime were ground down then both halves glues together. It is somewhere in my huge collection of exunomia coins. There are people who actually think it's some kind of mint error. I believe there has been at least 1 old thread on CoinTalk of someone thinking it is. @Mkm5 Please show the edge. Thanks.
Vending machines today are a lot more savy as to real of FAKE coins or notes. I recall a person I knew in college...who made a copy of a $1 bill on the library copier. Then go down to the student union center who had vending machines as well a dollar bill change machine. At that time in the mid 70's a bill copied would be accepted by most vending machines .
There was the famous ex-marine who was convicted of "coin mutilation" in the 1960's. He was shaving pennies to the size of dimes and using them in vending machines.
