This coin just barely caught my eye at lunchtime because I thought it looked very wrong. I know different dies sometimes can deliver subtle differences, but I think I'm seeing way too much in this case. Are there any true Merc Dime experts out there to validate or refute my first impression? https://www.usacoinbook.com/item/1928-p-mercury-dime-227956/ I fail to see why someone would fake a coin worth south of $10 when there's so much to be made off of other more expensive coins out there. If this is a sign of things to come, I fear we are going to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of fakes coming our way.
You know what this looks like to me? It looks like a dime that someone mindlessly lightly rubbed back and forth over a wool carpet while listening to a fireside chat by FDR some Sunday evening. The imagery just oozes out of the screen, doesn't it? "G'night, Mary Ellen. G'night, John Boy."
It looks fake to me. What is the sideways 2 at 4:00? Its fairly common so why fake it in the first place? To much work for to little gain. Looks like steel wool was used for the cleaning.
Certainly a problem coin but I don't see anything that leads me to believe one problem is "the coin is fake."
The 8 has a hit towards center that does make it appear somewhat different, but I'm just not getting any great alarms here.
My guess is because most are very cheap, but the fact that some here praise them as if the greatest imaging tool ever known to man certainly doesn't help.
Kurt, I also bought one, a little time before I joined ( wow already 10 years almost), but soon decided they were OK for big things, but the demon is in the details.
It's a question that a lot of people don't get, don't understand. But the answer is really quite simple - it's because it's easier to get away with it when the coin isn't worth much. And the reason it's easier to get way with is because everybody always thinks the same way yo do. So very, very seldom will they ever suspect that a cheap coin is a fake. Folks that make these, don't just make one or two - they mass produce them. The profit is in the volume. It's the very same reason that the $1 dollar bill is counterfeited way, way, more than any other denomination ! Nobody ever gives a $1 dollar bill a second thought - they just take them and move on.
Seems like the OP's concern has been addressed, so I hope no one minds my asking for opinions on a 1794 Large Cent ending tomorrow on eBay. https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/302640968881 Somebody is about to pay a lot for it and I am 99.99% certain it is counterfeit, based upon Liberty's bizarre nose tip and protruding lips. Plus on the reverse the ribbons and stems do not meet in the same way as on what I believe to be an attempted Head of 1793 variety. The seller has no feedback, which is 'covered' by his statement that he is 'selling his father's estate'. He has already sold 69 coins and who knows how many fakes. Is it possible to inform eBay without making a purchase? Somebody is about to get taken to the cleaners on this. Which is very troubling because it drains needed money from the genuine market.
I think we have gotten way too paranoid. I see nothing wrong with that coin. I’d happily pay melt for it. The color looks right for silver, and the letters/numbers look correct after a cursory comparison with another 1928 dime. I bought a fake 1958 wheat cent from China just to prove this point.