When I bought this coin I thought that it was scratched, but when I got it home and took a close look I can see it's not a scratch. I'm wondering if it's a strike thru or maybe someone hit it with a chisel, what do you think? Thanks. Oh yah and the rim looks to have file marks, somewhere on this site I think I saw reference to file marks on old coins.
The gouge or scratch appears to be post Mint damage to me! As far as the file marks, I do not remember a reference to them so I would leave it up to someone else on the forum that might remember the topic, to respond to your question. However, they also appear to be post Mint damage and would be considered damage! Frank
Hi Lakebreeze, My dad is somewhat of an expert on large cents, he even managed to collect 57 1793 liberty caps, and I recall him saying once that people would file the edges of the coins in order to get enough copper to make their own coins with the copper. I'm pretty sure he was refering to early copper at the time. Anyway, if that's not the case, sorry I couldn't help.
My grandfather would occasionally file the edge of a copper coin and mix the shavings into dog food to keep the dog from getting worms, or cure a dog with worms. This was before people took pets to the vet, or couldn't afford to. I don't know how widespread this practice was or when it began. Maybe a lot of old filed coins were used for a variety of home remedies.
mint filings http://www.pcgs.com/coinguidetext_static/prices9.chtml only mentions silver and gold for filings though.
Overweight silver and gold planchets had their weight adjusted using a file before striking. This was not done on copper coins. In the nineteenth century it was not unusual for collectors (and sometimes the mint) to use a file to remove a wire rim on particularly well struck Unc and Proof coins. This would not have been the case with this coin because it was struck with an open collar and open collar coins do not develop wire rims. One final reason for using a file on a coin was that nineteenth century collectors would sometimes attempt to file down/away a rim cud on a coin. This is not the case with the coin in question either. The file marks here are just post mint damage.
