Holed and Plugged Coins

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by Randy Abercrombie, Oct 13, 2020.

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  1. Randy Abercrombie

    Randy Abercrombie Supporter! Supporter

    I saw a thread by @lordmarcovan that reminded me of something I had been meaning to ask. It isn’t uncommon at all for us to run across holed coins. It is far less common though to run across holed coins that have been plugged (repaired?)... Usually when I see a plugged coin, it is done to a rare or more desirable coin......... Is plugging of holes coins a modern practice, or is it something that was done more by our coin collecting ancestors?
     
    Randy Abercrombie, Oct 13, 2020
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  3. Paddy54

    Paddy54 Well-Known Member

    Well one needs to remember that there was a time coins were cut to make change....that said silver and gold coins were only worth their weight. My dad would say most had a silk purse for gold coins as a $5 indian may only weight $4.50 and thats what the bank give you. Same on silver coins they weighted them to make sure their face value and weight were equal.
     
    Paddy54, Oct 13, 2020
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  4. Inspector43

    Inspector43 More than 75 Years Active Collecting Supporter

    When those holes were made the coin was probably quite common.
     
    Inspector43, Oct 13, 2020
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  5. Randy Abercrombie

    Randy Abercrombie Supporter! Supporter

    Oh yeah. I have seen plenty of holes coins in my collecting days. I am wondering about the plugged coins though.... It wasn’t long ago that I saw a very early dollar here on CT that was holed and subsequently plugged. I am wondering if that is a modern practice.
     
    Randy Abercrombie, Oct 13, 2020
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  6. Inspector43

    Inspector43 More than 75 Years Active Collecting Supporter

    I missed your point, Randy. And I am now interested in the outcome of your question.
     
    Inspector43, Oct 13, 2020
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  7. Randy Abercrombie

    Randy Abercrombie Supporter! Supporter

    Here is an image I got from the web to illustrate. This one is not done very well at all.

    upload_2020-10-13_18-42-9.jpeg
     
    Randy Abercrombie, Oct 13, 2020
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  8. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    Having a holed coin would make most people feel uncomfortable (unless that is what you want to collect), soplugging it could make you forget (kind of) that it's holed.
     
    Kentucky, Oct 13, 2020
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  9. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan 48-year collector Moderator

    I've seen some old plugs. I guess the ones from the era when the coin was circulating as money were done to "bring it up to weight", so to speak, or at least make the omission of some metal less blatantly obvious so you could pass it in commerce.

    The plugs that got done in modern times are more often than not done on scarcer collector coins, and are usually more expertly applied.

    I drilled an old, crude plug out of this 1856-S quarter eagle so that I could put it on my Holey Gold Hat, once upon a time. The odd thing was that the plug was a blackish color, and didn't match the gold of the coin at all. It was a soft, lead-like material, but very dark in color. I don't know what they were thinking. It was ugly. The coin looked better (and was more useful to me) with the "original" hole in it.

    [​IMG]
     
    lordmarcovan, Oct 13, 2020
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  10. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan 48-year collector Moderator

    I would imagine that one is contemporary, i.e., from the late 1700s/early 1800s.
     
    lordmarcovan, Oct 13, 2020
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  11. Randy Abercrombie

    Randy Abercrombie Supporter! Supporter

    This makes perfect sense to me. I would suspect this is the answer to my query.
     
    Randy Abercrombie, Oct 13, 2020
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  12. Jeffjay

    Jeffjay Well-Known Member

    I have a holed type set. A couple of the pieces I acquired we're amateurly plugged and I popped them out.
     
    Jeffjay, Oct 13, 2020
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  13. ZoidMeister

    ZoidMeister Hamlet Squire of Tomfoolery . . . . .

    @lordmarcovan ,

    Anything tickle your fancy?

    Z


    20201013_194304.jpg

    20201013_194315.jpg

    20201013_194330.jpg
     
    ZoidMeister, Oct 13, 2020
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  14. fretboard

    fretboard Defender of Old Coinage!

    The US Mint actually plugged some holed silver coins if I remember correctly to make the weight right! The late 1790's is what I remember about the article. thumbsup.gif
     
    fretboard, Oct 13, 2020
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  15. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    Kentucky, Oct 13, 2020
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  16. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan 48-year collector Moderator

    Would love to see it.
     
    lordmarcovan, Oct 14, 2020
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  17. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan 48-year collector Moderator

    lordmarcovan, Oct 14, 2020
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  18. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan 48-year collector Moderator

    lordmarcovan, Oct 14, 2020
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  19. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan 48-year collector Moderator

    The “Saint Patrick” “farthings” and halfpennies of the late 1600s (listed in the Colonials section of the US Red Book) had a brass plug referred to as a “splasher” in the planchets, as minted.

    I was lucky enough to discover a Saint Patrick “farthing” (with a very visible brass splasher in it) in a bulk lot of World coins, once. It was one of my more memorable cherrypicks.

    On other occasions I found a 1694 London Elephant token and a Connecticut copper, both Redbook-listed coins. Cherrypicking World coin bulk lots can be quite profitable if you get lucky and know what you’re looking at.
     
    lordmarcovan, Oct 14, 2020
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  20. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator

    Glad you brought that up because you saved me the trouble of doing it. :)

    Which is what I was going to do to show Randy the answer to his question - that even that long ago holed coins were being plugged. And some, quite intentionally by the US Mint itself.
     
    GDJMSP, Oct 14, 2020
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  21. HoledandCreative

    HoledandCreative Well-Known Member

    Both a mint plug and a post mint plug

    901795P3oBSC.JPG 901795P3rBSC.JPG
     

    Attached Files:

    HoledandCreative, Oct 14, 2020
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