Last week at the flea market, a man had about 40 of these "replica" coins. Instead of being the actual size of the coin though, they were about 3" in diameter. I accidently came across a set of 4 online for $10. They man at the flea market was selling all 40 of them for $25. They were made of some cheap metal and OBVIOUSLY FAKE, but were actually really neat! I was half tempted to buy them... The post online referred to them as "vintage/antique" Can someone please explain to me what these are, when they were made, what they're worth? Anything?
I first started seeing them in the late 80,s. Novelty items but really cool. Some called them coasters.
They sell them at the gift shop in the American history museum in DC. Went in there last year to check out the coinage exhibit and seem to remember them selling oversized 1964 Kennedy halves, 1909S VDB cents, and some year buffalo nickel. Guessing they were $3 there though.
Not my taste but there's a market for everything. If you like them, go for it. Collect what you like and forget about what anyone else thinks. Lance.
They would be cool to use as coasters. Maybe I should get a set of 4 or so. But I probably won't, kind of a waste of money.
Cracker Barrel sold something like those. They had 1877 IHC's and 1909-S VDBs selling them as coasters. They were pretty cool. Was tempted to buy them but I was broke lol.
Cracker Barrel still sells them. I saw 1877 IHCs and 1856 FECs at a Cracker Barrel in Colorado recently. I bought several of these "coasters" to use as demonstration pieces. I used some in a Counterfeit Dectection mini-seminar I taught at ANA Summer Seminar a couple of years ago. They work great to demonstrate how coins are made and are easy for students in the back of the classroom to see.
quick google search found this http://www.jakesmp.net/Numismatic_novelties/NN_004_coin_replicas_C.html
Seems as though all 40 for $25 was a good deal, but what then? That would be a heavy load to carry around all day unless you saw them on the way out. Drop one of those into a trick-or-treaters sack...but then it just might go through the bottom of the sack, but then you'd have the Mother Load so there would be no down side.
"Class, this coin is counterfeit. I know it may be hard to detect, but if you look closely, you will see that it is actually 3 inches in diameter! That's much bigger than a normal cent, and therefore is counterfeit!" I'm just yanking your chain.
I have quite a few including the 1916 standing liberty quarter, two different lincoln cents (got those at a local Lincoln park), a Morgan in which the date escapes me, etc.... Obviously you won't fool anyone into thinking they are real, but they are neat decorative pieces.
Sorry it has taken me so long to reply... Thankyou everyone who answered. I know they are not real, but they really do look neat! I ended buying two as a gift for my manager who collects coins. I got him a 3 legged buffalo and a VDB S. Kind of as a joke
Good for you Angel, as mentioned before, as long as YOU like them go for it! If you remember those words you'll never go wrong. I doesn't matter in the least what other people think. It's your collection so have some fun with it!
I have a whole set of these things that I bought several years back at, of all places, Wall Drug in South Dakota or maybe it was the Mitchel Corn Palace. I paid about a buck a piece for them and I still use them as paper weights on my desk at work. Having them on my desk tends to bring up the topic of coins with people that come to my office and gives me a chance to talk about coins with people that I might otherwise not know have an interest in coin collecting. Over time, I have become the guy who knows about coins around the office and I have been able to pick up some new coin sets that people inherited but have no interest in keeping. I also offer free appraisals as long as they sell me the coins before they sell them off to some coin dealer for half of their value. All in all, the large coins serve a nice purpose.
That's really awesome! I'm kinda the "coin girl" at my work and have a lot of customers who bring me coins as gifts and ask me questions. I think they're very neat and like how easily you can see the details (if that makes sense)
