Counterfeit nickel!

Yesterday after work my wife gave me a nickel she had found at work in the coffee fund money. Make a long story short the nickel is a 1990-D counterfeit!Here's just a small bit of info as you can see it in the pics.

The nickel weighs the right amount 5 grams, but I took it to my coin club last night to get a few opinions and everyone agreed that it's a casted fake. Heck some of you will agree just by looking at the pics and some of you won't.

There are three major indicators of this coin being a counterfeit. The coloring is off and the area surrounding the devices is not flat and shiney like a regular nickel would be. When you lay one nickel on top of the other (like in a roll), the fake one is not round like the real one. The last thing is that there is a line on the rim of the coin. It's a small line but I think that's the line that shows it is not a minted nickel. just giving y'all the heads up.

 

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is it really worth it to counterfeit nickels? if they made it out of nickel they would be loosing money?

i guess if its a cheaper material its a smart way to go about it. who is going to question if a nickel is real? even if you cashed rolls of them in, most people would think they were just worn. i really wouldn't be able to say for sure if its fake!

 

Except for the apparent size difference, it looks like environmental damage.
Can you get an accurate weight? Jewelry store might help with that.

 

It could be a fake but I'm not seeing that in the images.
If it is fake, it's a really cool find.

 

I have a scale and I weighed it and it weighs 5 grams. I'm just giving a heads up that's all. I took it to my coin club and used it as a show and tell and then I surveyed a few of the "top dogs" there for their opinions. I accept their openess and honesty. Only one person I asked would not say that it was a fake b/c he couldn't get passed the idea of someone counterfeiting a nickel. I guess some ppl don't remember the Henning nickel. Maybe I will add more pics later

 

I too would be extremely suspicious that it is a fake. It looks like environmental damage to me. I cannot see the rim casting line very clearly, but even that could be environmental damage. I have seen some really weird stuff people have put their coins through........

I try to always remember the old adage, "If you hear hoofprints, assume its horses not zebras". If this was a collectible coin I would first assume forgery. For a common coin I first assume damage.

Please let us know what more you find.

 

The time and effort that would have to go into counterfeiting a nickel, not to mention the use of nickel, makes me think this would be a losing proposition. I highly doubt that's a counterfeit, and as others have said, I feel it's environmental damage.

 

the line is from a knife cut. When rolled in the plastic rolls the easiest way to open them is to run a box knife down the roll. I have seen cuts just like that on all years when roll searching. There is nothing from those pictures or description that would make me believe this is a fake.

 

Looks like a metal detecting find I have several in my metal detecting finds box that look like that. Ice

 

Oh, what he was talking about was perpendicular to the rim! No wonder I did not see it lol. The indicator that a coin is molded will be parallel to the rim, all the way around a coin. This is where the two molds meet. You do not have that on this coin, a mark perpedicular to the rim would not have any place in casting. The fact that it is not round is probably due to the damage you see on the surface, like getting run over.

 

Here's the only reason I think it is a real nickel (or at least not cast):

<b>It is extremely difficult and time consuming to cast coins.</b>

Casting is good for counterfeiting rarities. But using a die is the only way to counterfeit circulating coins. You would lucky to get a few dollars a day casting nickels, but thousands would be easy with a die press.

Check ebay, their is a foreign gov surplus coining press for sale now. All you need is a die and your in business.

 

I see nothing to indicate the coin is fake. Looks like a dug coin to me.

 

Interesting! Here's some more pics just to see the (casting line) a little better. You can actually see that the line protrudes outward and was not made with a knfe or whatever someone up their suggested. I'm not here to debate with anyone whether it's a counterfeit or not, I posted the info and some ppl are gonna have opinions that agree or not. I've been on this board long enough to know the score.

BTW: A student here at work took the pics of my nickel yesterday on his cell phone, kind of an Iphone but not. Better pics than mine.

 

Still think it's environmental damage.

 

Is the 'suspect' coin the one in the photos that appears larger than the sample coin? Maybe it's been run over a few thousand times...who'd cast a nickel that's not even the right size? How up on counterfeits are your coin club members? Nothing about the coin says 'counterfeit' to me except for the size of it. Is it thinner than the other sample? Jus' curious.

 

I don't think that is a casting line. It could possibly have been caused by a cracked collar.

Casting lines generally go around the edge of the coin, not across the edge. Think of it this way - The counterfeiter makes a mold of the obverse and a mold of the reverse. Usually each mold will include a portion of the edge. He places the two molds together and pours in the molten metal to cast a fake coin. Where do you think the casting line will be? It will be around the edge, not across it. Another thing that will be evident is a casting port where the molten metal was poured into the mold. The counterfeiter will usually grind off the casting port (aka sprue) and there should be evidence of the casting port somewhere along the edge.

 

I appreciate your insight but surely you are open enough to realize that your explaned counterfeiting process is "old school" at best and with everything that has changed since the time Henning made his nickels there is surely more than one way to counterfeit a coin. No disrespect intended as I am "old school" too. That said, I have the nickel at home and I will take it to my coin store stops and include more information as I go. thanks

 

Yes, casting lines go around the coin. Never like the one you have. I have a box of cast coins, they are all like that. I have fake detection books and they all say the line goes around the coin. Also, there should be evidence of filing where the sprue was filed off.

 

Fretboard, you're ignoring painfully obvious evidence that it's not a counterfeit, as well as completely disregarding common sense.

If you don't believe it's a regular nickel that's taken a beating, send it off to NGC or PCGS and see if they slab it as genuine or bodybag it. If it comes back as code 90 (Not genuine) I'll paypal you $30 to cover the costs of getting it slabbed. Put your money where your mouth is.

 

Henning struck his nickels; he did not cast them. (I own one of his 1944 No P nickels.)

I am well aware that there is "more than one way to counterfeit a coin". I described casting lines because you stated in two posts (your original post and later in post #13) that your nickel was a cast counterfeit. I am confused as to why you are chastising me for only addressing the casting process.

Good luck with your coin. I am bowing out of this discussion. I hope you get a final determination from someone more knowledgeable about counterfeit coins than me.