I'm posting this here because I think that error coin experts would be most likely to have seen this before, even though it's not an mint error. The cracks are incuse. Under my microscope in the crack it looks silverish. Can anyone tell me what caused this? I've already soaked it in acetone and no change. I've boiled it and froze it x2 cycles and I let it soak in mineral oil for 24 hours. Nothing caused any noticeable change.
Fascinating. Do you have the ability to get an accurate weight? My first impression is an encrustation, which ought to increase the weight. Plenty of possibilities would resist the steps you've already taken. Thank goodness it's not an "L."
Oh ya, I made sure it wasn't an L before I did anything. The second thing was I weighed it. I figured it would be heavy but it weighed 3.02 g surprisingly.
OK. Now I have to begin wondering if it's real at all, then. Assuming these aren't artifacts of the imaging process, the numeral alignments in the date are odd - the 4 seems high, the differential in diameter between the two lobes of the 8 exaggerated, and the 6 too large. On the reverse, the N's and the E's differ too much from each other (although other examples show that difference between the N's), and the upper ends of the wreath are weird although generally in keeping with the true coin. Which begs the questions, why fake it, and how was it faked so close to the correct weight? Still fascinating.
Stop boiling, freezing and oiling it! You should ask first before doing any of that to any strange coin you find This cracked IHC has been a topic about 2 maybe 3 times here on CoinTalk over the past couple of years. Unfortunately I'm on the bus heading to work so I can't do the search I to help you.
Here is one - https://www.cointalk.com/threads/1899-indian-head-with-what-in-the-world-happened.272187/ And another - https://www.cointalk.com/threads/web-design-on-1907-indian-head.269421/ One more - https://www.cointalk.com/threads/any-ideas-on-this-indian-head-penny.266399/#post-2197348
By gosh, I think he's cracking up! I just don't know which, the OP (boiling, freezing and oiling) or the Indian himself.
Looks like I said my piece on one of the previous threads -- probably covered with something that cracked, then exposed to something that etched the parts under the cracks. I've got no evidence to back my opinion, though.
I was thinking it was a dug coin but I couldn't find any other dug coins with this type of pmd on the net. I went through a lot of pictures. Maybe it was a fire coin. Maybe it was in a metal container and was at the bottom of a pile and the container rusted and caused these lines because of the pressure from the weight of the other coins.... Lots of maybes. I'll never know for sure but I'm glad to have a couple possibilities to ponder.
