Looking at this 42/1 dime as part of an estate lot and was curious what the forum thought about the placement of the 2. It seems higher than authenticated comps. The coin is raw and from a collection compiled about 30 years ago. Thoughts on grade would be appreciated as well. Thanks in advance!
Here's a high grade one that I downloaded from "Coin Facts." Here's your piece. It does look to be "off" like you said.
Now I really like it! However that would lower the price a little. Would that qualify as a contemporary counterfeit?
If it’s a counterfeit, which appears to be the case, it is worth scrap (less than melt). Please don’t give legitimacy to counterfeits that are made to cheat collectors. They pose a major threat to the hobby.
I agree with everyone above, it is sadly a counterfeit. I guess I could also take this as a chance to post a picture of my 1942/1. It's sadly been cleaned, but I cant really complain, I paid a little over spot for it.
Thanks for all the input. Luckily this investigation took place before purchase. Cointalk is such a valuable resource. There’s a lot of other good stuff in the collection that I look forward to posting if the seller and I come to an agreement.
If the counterfeiter made his fakes like the Chinese are doing it and like a legitimate mint, he or she has a hub with the Mercury Dime design in place with everything, except the date and possible mint mark. Therefore when the counterfeiter made this “1942 over 1” dime he added the date to the working die. The trouble is, he didn’t get it quite right. Still it’s close enough that it would fool a lot of people, especially if you don’t have the genuine thing available for a comparison. if my assumption above is correct, this counterfeiter could have made other Mercury Dimes, like a 1916-D, the 1921s or any other date. I have photos of a counterfeit 1796 half dollar that someone made over 60 years ago. It’s so good that it fooled the major auction houses back in the early 1960s. The fake was picked up many years later when an owner submitted it to PCGS. I’ll post pictures of it when I’m on my desktop.
Mark, Having seen this thread, coupled with your thread about the 1911-D Quarter Eagle & 1908-S Half Eagle, please be very cautious. I suspect these fakes were either innocently bought without due diligence, or that they were knowingly acquired for very little by an unscrupulous seller, plausibly representing them as the valuables of a bygone collector.
Is it possible the counterfeiter didn't make a working die but added a 2 to the date of a genuine 1941? There is a little distortion on the reverse, roughly where the date is on the other side. Added features are certainly not without precedent. If so, technically it would not be a counterfeit but an altered date. I'm not expert enough to tell if the remainder of the coin has any signs of being counterfeit.
Here is the 1796 counterfeit half dollar I promised to post. This piece made through a major auction in the early 1960s, if memory serves. PCGS caught it as a counterfeit. Here is the genuine coin that was used to make the counterfeit. Note that this piece is sharper and that there are marks in exactly the same places. Often the counterfeit will lose detail on the highest points which is what you see here. Here are individual photos of each side of the two pieces. Counterfeit Genuine. It's really great when you can find the genuine item that was used to make the counterfeit.
