Well, this used to be a Franklin Half Dollar but I guess you could call it "hybrid"...coin, token, counterstamp. The history behind this is interesting so I thought I'd post it for everyone to see. In 1985 when the Low Country Coin Club decided to celebrate their 25th anniversary, two rolls of 1960 Franklin Halves were bought, the reverses were planed off and they were counterstamped like you see in the pic. I have a lot of coin-related exonumia including regular issue coins being counterstamped, but this type of alteration is new to me. Just for your info, the piece weighs in at 10.88 gms., whereas a regular Frankie weighs about 12.5 gms. Has anybody ever seen anything like this before? Thanks for looking! Bruce
Genuine half that had the reverse removed for the stamping. Damaged, worth melt only. What I don't understand is why a coin club would destroy a genuine half for a celebratory piece like that.
Hand? What in the world makes you think a hand was used to stamp the coin? And what makes you think this is damaged? This was very much so intentional and it has served it's purpose in commemorating an aniversary... I know more than enough collectors who would pay more than melt for such a coin, me included! This is a GREAT piece of history Bruce, not only of stamps but of Numismatic Clubs!! Where'd you pick it up at?
It looks to me like each letter was individually punched. Therefore, the alignment is not quite exact. Cool piece! Chris
Read Chris' post under yours. I agree with his statement regarding each letter being individually stamped, by hand. Oh I don't, maybe the removal of the reverse details with the use of a machine, or metal lathe.
We'll get to your other statement later. Please tell me how you think a human being punched a letter into a coin? As far as I know Andre the Giant is dead... I for one, sure as **** can't punch a letter into a coin, and even if I could, how could it be that precise? Perhaps your right, and I don't know that I am. But it seems a bit farfetched.
Hammers and letter dies are used in hand stamping metal jewelry all the time. It is very easy to hand stamp lettering onto metal surfaces.
Thanks Zach, I like it too. Not so much for it's artistic qualities, but because it's so unusual to see a club commerorative like this stamped on an altered regular issue coin. I bought it from a collector in South Carolina for 10 bucks...not a bad price I think. Bruce
Come on, zach. I thought you were smarter than that! It works essentially the same way mint marks were punched into coin dies, a letter punch is positioned then hit with a hammer swung by a hand. BTW, it's a very nice coin/medal.
Really? That is how that works, Rick? That makes much more sense that what I had conjured up in my head! BU, I'm sorry for my opposition. In my mind, I was thinking, ignorantly, that an actual man was smacking the coin with this tiny "die or stamp" in his hand.... Rick thanks for the clarification!!
Not everyone is familiar with a set of metal stamps for stamping metallic items, or even making impressions on leather. http://www.google.com/search?q=meta...m=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1440&bih=807
You're right BU. I have two different sets (size and style) of letter punchs and four personal prepared punchs I had made over the years. These are pics of two of them. I use them as my "calling card" so to speak. I give them to or trade them with other collectors. It's not hard to get a good impression with a hammer stamp after practicing a bit. Bruce
