Is this an altered 1858/53 half dime? Your thoughts please.

after looking at several photos and NGC/PCGS graded coins I'm still stuck at 50/50

 

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It is a very poor counterfeit.

 

@Insider is correct. This is a Chinese cast counterfeit. You can see the grainy, bubbly surfaces, the strange "wear" pattern where the stars look XF-AU but the liberty looks VF20, and the tell-tale handcarved date digits. The word LIBERTY is also handcarved and doesn't look anything like a genuine coin would.

 

Thank you gentlemen.
More targets for the rifle range

 

You could donate it to your local coin club as an educational piece.

 

Even if it was an altered date and not a Chinese fake, it would be easy to detect. You know why?

There are what I call "the three S's" to 19th C date authentication:
Size
Shape
Spacing

This type of altered date would be easy to detect because the size and shape, not to mention spacing of the date on 1858 are different than on 1853.

Sorry to hear it's fake though. Hope you didn't pay too much for it.

 

I vote for the rifle range. I suspect that a lot of these, despite the best intentions, somehow slither back into commerce.