Convince me that this is a fake...

Yes, it is a squeeze job, and the point about non-reversal of the detail can be explained by elaborating on the process. A die can be produced from a softer coin so that the details will be reversed and then used to strike the extra images. Read Charles Larson's book on Numismatic Forgery where he gives enough info to start your own hobby. He would use a real coin between 2 soft planchets and squeeze/strike the trio, remove the planchets , anneal to soften and repeat until the reverse image is deep into the planchets, and then work harden the planchets which would then be obverse and reverse "dies". He says this was common in the 60s. This finished planchets could be used to squeeze the proper image onto the silver host coin in this case.

If you are interested, he explained how explosive impact copying can be used to make dies. He says it is almost impossible to make die from gold coins by the process above, except if you can increase the velocity of the strike tremendously rather than squeezing, you can make a die from a gold coin. He used a 10 gauge shotgun to shoot a copper slug with the gold coin on the end into an annealed steel die on the end of the barrel. The steel die with the reverse image of the coin could then be hardened and used to produce a well finished die capable of striking many coins.
Obviously there are many dangers in this process.

Even if you never want to be a counterfeiter, it is quite a read

Jim

 

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Someone had fun with this one.

People need to remember that the first question to ask in determining if a coin is PMD is not, how could someone do it, or why would someone do it. The first question to ask is, "Could this have even happened during the minting process?" In the case of this coin, the answer is an obvious no. If you care to further speculate about how or why someone would have done it later, then have at it. However, just because you can't come up with a definitive answer as to how or why, it does not then follow that it is a mint error.

 

An UGLY FAKE Quarter..

 

Not as ugly as the slab your 11 cent piece is in .

 

I once upon a time was a senior member on this site. Believe it or not sometimes people get kicked off for silly little things. However, my point is that the depression was up until 1939..you can check all these dates. 1941 would be a date when most people were trying to get on their feet. I would be. Mint workers at this point in history( and you can check this too) were trying to smuggle out cents that were worth a premium. Imagine, having a cent that no one had but you? These workers were not always caught, that is where some people come up with coins that are struck funny /etc. I think you have one of those cents that one of these mint workers created.

 

It is 1941, you work at the mint and you think you can get away with it. Imagine what this coin will bring if legit?

 

No it wouldn't.
If you have a quarter and stamp a design in it it will still weigh the same as it did before, it will just have a different shape.

 

If I worked at the mint directly after THE GREAT DEPRESSION, I would be a hustler. I would make several one of a kinds, put them in my pocket and feed my family. Attribute this coin and get back to the forum, I bet my being a family man that this is a one of a kind.

 

This is a coin altered outside the mint. Once you understand the minting process, you will understand why. A quarter planchet DOES NOT fit into the striking chamber of any smaller denomination. The chances of mint employees altering the striking chamber to fit the quarter are pretty much none. It is a damaged coin. Don't waste your money sending it in.

 

Noncents, I love to see someone I can reason with. What would you do if you worked at the mint in 1941? Let's assume you have three mouths to feed. What would you do? Knowing, all you had to do is make it to the local coin dealer after work? Would you, perhaps make a nice little ( one of a kind ) for the coin dealer? How many cents have you seen ,Simon that does not have a rhyme or reason for being on this planet......other than helping some depression error family make a little extra dough? BE HONEST>>>

 

Send it to Wexler, it went from 3 to 4 dollars a side to have it attributed. These High school guys think that is a lot of money. I guess if I was buying junior mints with the prom queen at the Drive-In four dollars would be a lot. Your name in this forum suggests that you are my age. Send it in. What have you got to lose? Four bucks, send it to Wexler and if he hits you got a winner.... If not, oh well you lost four dollars. TONY

 

First off I can see why you got kicked out of here the first time around. Secondly, many of the members here I'm sure know way more than you do about coins and the minting process. Calling them kids is disrespectful. I have a feeling you won't last here long again.

 

Honestly? I would work my job normally, knowing that if I was caught altering coins, I would lose my job, and with that, the little money I make to feed the family. Who would you sell the coin to if it were a recession? Who would bother shelling out big bucks for a coin in a time of crisis like that? I would keep my job and be an honest worker, not risk my family to try and make an error coin that might not even sell.

 

If Freud were a coin collector he would get a kick out of that statement.

 

A mutilated coin made by impressing it with false dies. Press a coin into a piece of brass it creates an incuse reversed impression and it work hardens the brass. Then press another coin with this false die and it raises a weak raised correctly oriented impression of the coin. Since the work hardened brass is still softer than the coin metal it does not wipe out the impression on the coin. In this case the coin has been pressed between false dies of several denominations.

Nice idea but it wouldn't work. Error coins didn't come into their own until the late fifties/early sixties. before that time they were considered to be just so much junk and thinks like major off-centers, double strikes etc, were frequently just consigned to the trash can. I'm sure there were a few error collectors back then but they were very few so even major errors were worth a pittance. Definitely not worth risking a good paying job at the mint or prison time for theft of government property during the Depression.

 

Thanks Conder. So the consensus is that a false die was used. At least I have an explanation. For the record, I still like my $.31 piece. Most likely for the same reason that I've started collecting hobo nickels and other error coins.