I have what looks like a tiny 1889 barber dollar, but I cant find any info on it. Is it a real coin, a sample? Any info would help.
Sorry, perhaps a morgan dollar. the front and back match the regular sized one. It is as this as it is small. The details on the reverse are not that great, much more worn than the head side, but it has the eagle
Believe it or not there is a machine that can actually shrink real coins. But the OP's coin is just what Larry said it was, not a shrunken coin.
Novelty reasons, and Australias bills shrink when cooked (plastic) but no one does it because bills are worth their size there, not there number
Because they can, and because some people like big bangs. http://blog.makezine.com/2009/06/17/coin-shrinking-with-high-voltage-in/ http://205.243.100.155/frames/shrinkergallery.html