Difficult quiz - edges.

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Courtesy of Wikipedia-
The main techniques of coin edging are edge mills of various types, which put a pattern on a smooth edge after a coin and coin mills with edge ring, which pattern the edge at the time when the coin is being milled.

 

Gotcha.

Those haven't been used since 1836. The edge lettering on Presidential dollars undergoes a process like this, but not the reeded edge.

The edge reeding on modern coins (as shown in this thread) is imparted by a closed collar die at the time of striking.

 

You so did!

 

Duh, I choose, lets see, all of them. I win!

 

I'm going with #1. I was going to say #4, but under closer examination, the reeding is not evenly spaced or of even thickness--look at the 2nd and 3rd from the left. #5 was cast.

 

Here's what I see:

1. The reeding is shallow, but very crisp. The bottom rim is razor sharp square.
-> hypothesis: this coin is a gift shop type piece made for sale as an imitation, and if we saw the face of the coin would be quickly obvious it is not genuine.

2. The reeding is not uniform, widely spaced, and irregular. There are "blobs" in places, and there are vertical lines which look like file-marks or some sort of shear.
-> hypothesis: this looks like the distortion I've seen on coins with added mintmarks. The counterfeiter will drill a hole into the edge of the coin, emboss a mintmark, and then fill and repair the edge. This looks like a bad repair-job.

3. The reeding is very wide, and very widely spaced. There is some rim damage at the top.
-> hypothesis: this is a machine struck counterfeit where they got the edge/reeding wrong. This type of reeding does appear on some foreign coins, but not US (that I'm aware of).

4. The reeding is crisp, although there are some irregularities in the width. There is also what appears to be some overlap.
-> hypothesis: this is a Morgan dollar with overlapping reeding (I think someone else mentioned this earlier.) See below for another example:



5. There is a prominent casting seam through the middle. There are casting bubbles evident throughout. The segments of reeding (top and bottom) do not align.
-> hypothesis: this is a cast counterfeit

 

I'm sticking with #4, with (originally) #1 as a close second.

But... and I'm going way out there, could #2 be from a coin that was used as jewelry? I'm not very familiar with jewelry coins, but someone mentioned it looked like it had been soldered, so that got me thinking (which I believe to be the point of @Insider 's thread anyway.

But I'm still saying #4.

(I'm really enjoying this thread, and can't wait for the final verdict!)

 

#4

 

The edge #5 looks like the one on this . . . . .

So does #3 in a way . . . .

Z

​

 

Number 4 for me.

 

#4!

 

Lev99, asked: "Insider, you remember the magnification level on photos?"

No, and very unprofessional to show an image w/o that info. I suspect between 15 -25 Power.

Clue: When looking at the edges of any reeded coin, more often than not, a counterfeit coin's edge will be extremely regular when compared to a genuine example. Often a counterfeit edge will feel sharp to the touch.

 

I think 1 is the genuine one. Though crisp it’s regular and even like a high quality control likeat the mint. Number 4 could be a Morgan with overlapping reeding or it could be counterfeit. The other 3 no way

 

D4

 

I didn't read that it had to be a US coin so I will stick my neck out and say that, taking coins from all over the world for the last 400 odd years, they are all genuine!

 

@Bardolph this is from the OP

 

Hey @Insider , tell us what the answers are!

 

I've found this exercise very interesting. Initially I was think #4. Then decided that #1 was real. But insiders ladt clue sent me back to #4.