So I have had this coin for about a month. At first glance, it looked as if it had just been "smashed" and flattened out on the one side. But today I looked closer and actually turned the coin over and at the same exact spot (on the reverse) I found a perfectly round edge ingraved (as if its the edge of another coin mark) with 4 letters engraved into it. Its almost as if the 4 letters on the opposite side that you can't read, were printed on the other side, directly behind it.. if any of that makes sense. Looks really neat to me none the less. Can anyone please tell me what may have happened? Looks as if the machine put too much pressure on the coin and bent it, engraving ANOTHER coin into it.. Does this give it any value? I know nothing about this coin...
Sorry to say but it is damage. Something (perhaps another coin) was smashed into your coin. The raised letters on the other coin were driven into your coin which would explain why the letters are 1) incuse and 2) reversed. When the other coin (or whatever it was) was smashed into your coin there had to be a force acting in the opposite direction on your coin. That is why the opposite side is flattened in the corresponding location. If your coin had been lying on an anvil (or something else hard and solid) and someone laid another coin on top of yours and struck it with a hammer part of the design of the top coin would be driven into your coin and the other side of your coin would be partially flattened. Also, when a coin is struck in a collar the coin will be perfectly round. Your coin is out of round due to an impact, not a minting error. (In rare cases the collar may be cracked or broken which can result in a coin that is not perfectly round. That is not the case with your coin.) Value = not much. It is a damaged coin.
Very true! Would have been an awesome find considering I spent about 12 cents on it Nonetheless, I still think it looks pretty awesome.
Agree with Hobo - another coin was pressed into this with sufficient force to indent it. BUT: As calum says .. it *is* 100 years old!!
It looks like a counterstamp that was stamped backwards with letters with a similar font to the ones used for the words on the coin. -Brian
I have a question of my own, dose "ghosting" on George the Fifth pennies have any value?? I have 2, 1918 and 1919, they've been stored with my errors, but I cant put a price tag on 'em....
there are some wartime (1914/18) george V pennies with genuine ghosting on them where the head is visible on the reverse but this was due to the poor quality of the blanks used by the mint more than anything else due to the shortage of metals because of the war effort. but this coin has definitely been artificially altered to make it look like a minting error.
Hey, it's a really cool coin Angel. It's probably not worth a lot but I think it's a nice piece to have in your collection. Bruce
Thanks Bruce! I think even if it was just some kid goofing around, smashing coins together.. it adds character. Maybe not any value, but still neat. Maybe some kid 100 years ago did that!!
