Well there has been plenty of remarks of coins being "tooled". I understand what it is but I'd like some help with identifying them. Can people post some pictures of their "tooled" coins and maybe point out the area so we can learn to recognize them. Thanks for those that can help!!
Here's a guide to tooling on ancient coins: http://www.menorahcoinproject.org/tooled.htm Here are some examples of tooled bust dollars: http://home.comcast.net/~reidgold/draped_busts/page_7.html Tooled Morgan dollar (halfway down page, right side) http://coinauctionshelp.com/How_To_Grade_Morgan_Dollars.html For more information on the subject, and much more, you might want to pick up a copy of the "PCGS Guide to Grading and Counterfeit Detection."
I would recommend you do a search on the Heritage archives for "tooled" and "re-engraved". The results are exactly what you will be looking for. Just a few obvious examples: http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=432&Lot_No=823 http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=428&Lot_No=2291 http://coins.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=334&Lot_No=6595 Note how in each of them, the affected details are considerably stronger than you would expect for the level of wear they display? They are also generally fake looking. The last one I linked, the half dollar, is particularly relevant to your question, I believe, because the obverse is the same design as your coin in the dollar size. All that being said, these coins started out as genuine coins to begin with.
Looks like it to me. Many are easy so see but many just seem hard to tell. I guess it's like most things I'm just gonna have to study them hard to figure out what a tooled one looks like. Thanks for the help all.
