Not so concernced about value as I think these are pretty well valueless to anyone but me... I found the brass-colored '53 wheat awhile back and thought it was some kind of fake from a kids game or maybe a homemade piece of jewelry... I put it with the kids toys... A few weeks later, I found the '62 version with the same seemingly extra ring around it... In fact, they both had the same little bend in the little layer around the rim, making me think maybe they had been part of a necklace or some such... Anyway, was interested in the story behind these if anyone might have a clue... Sorry for the terrible pictures, but I am using my wife's camera and haven't quite gotten the hang of the settings yet... Should serve the purpose though... It seemed odd that they would both look so much like a real coin without any indicator that they are copies... B
Those marks are typical of those you wouls find on a coin that was once encased as in a lucky charm or something similar. http://www.pennypressmint.com/encased.htm
thanks for the reply... That makes sense... and actually the marks were not so outstanding... it appears that there is a ring that is the same color as the coin in each case that could be cut away and you would have a regular coin left... The marks you see are actually the beginning of that outer 'rim' being peeled off... Of course, if someone made something from real coins, like a charm or piece of jewelry, then I still have to wonder why the brass colored wheat... Maybe plated somehow to make it appear gold... just tested them, and the ring on the '62 is attracted to a magnet but the coin itself is not... On the wheat, the ring has obviously been added by a similar process, but is not attracted to a magnet and must then be brass... (or gold ... ) B
