Secret Marks on Coins

I think i know of one technically not a secret but during ww2 times for Filipinas centavos some had inverted W's as M's and more.https://coins.www.collectors-society.com/wcm/CoinCustomSetView.aspx?s=13492

 

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The date digits in the denticles on Morgan Dollars could be considered secret marks by engravers. Some people speculate they are there by accident but I don't believe they would have been that sloppy. A good example of this is the VAM-39 where all 4 date digits appear in the denticles.

 

Yes...and I got it directly from John Mercanti
In Jan 2021 I was super lucky to be on a live stream chat with the man himself and I got to ask him a couple questions.
During the stream John mentioned something no one knew before!

On the George Washington 1982 commemorative dollar there are initials hidden in the bushes by the sculptor of the reverse, Matt Peloso (spelling?), who actually hid his initials in the bushes because the mint wouldn't let him put his initials on it but he had told John about it lol!

 

So you believe Misplaced dates in the denticles were done on purpose. If so, why aren't they more common?

 

A misplaced date is only unique to coins struck by a specific die and therefore is not a marker broad enough to be useful as an anti-counterfeiting measure.

 

They were pretty sloppy sometimes... check out the 1882 Snow-6 IHC. Three different misplaced date impressions, none of them in the denticles.




Three bases of a 1 clearly seen in the necklace!

 

Wonder where? Just took a quick look at a couple of reverse images (proof and MS), and couldn't see anything that stood out clearly...

 

It's a half dollar, not a dollar.

NGC coin explorer https://www.ngccoin.com/coin-explor...2-date/19601/1982-s-george-washington-50c-pf/

"A handsome design by U. S. Mint sculptors Elizabeth Jones and Matthew Peloso,"

EJ's initials are prominent. Can't see MP's initials in the bushes.

 

See Skip's question above. It does not ask for anti-counterfeiting, only secret marks.

 

How do you know that it wasn't intentional?

 

I don't have an answer to this question. I don't know why they weren't less common either, I wasn't there...

But my theory is they were checking the die to make sure it was drawn back enough before adding the date. Multiple dates in the denticles may have been markers for correct positioning.

 

I guess it is matter of how one interprets the question.

 

Of all the up thread posts I consider none an anti-counterfeit secret mark.

 

I think some Gold bullion coins have anti-forgery marks on them. I can not remember from which country these are on. sorry.

 

Designer's initials are not "secret." The "Star of David" hidden in the hair of a stamp is virtually unknown (so secret) but not an anti-counterfeiting device. The "Super Bird" on the quarter could be either done as a whimsy by man or a Mint "artifact." I'm wondering about marks put on coin hubs as a part of the design in order to defy counterfeiting. The 1875 Indian is a secret mark on one date. The 2 dot 2 Grant 50c was done to ID a Grant Star die with the star polished off. Hub marks such as the depression in the "R" on $10 Indians is more like a characteristic that MAY have been done as a secret mark on all genuine coins. Many coins have man-made "dots" that may be for one thing or another. Unfortunately when they appear in all sorts of places on 1921 Morgan dollars they argue against anything done for a specific purpose like the 1884 dot Morgan's whose purpose I don't know.

 

It is Canada gold. Link: https://coinweek.com/bullion-report/royal-canadian-mint-launches-bullion-anti-counterfeiting-device/

 

Time for someone to take this sample and run with it...write a book!

Jim

 

The 1885 Morgan Dollar JUDD 1747 was an attempt to come up with an anti-counterfeit feature.

 

Was the mint still giving its employees rum in 1882?

 

Has anyone found secret marks placed on our coins by Mint Engravers?
This rules out the Omega mark on the counterfeit Staint, a story I find fascinating.