This Liberty Nickel weighs 4.2 grams. At first, I immediately thought "FAKE!" However, do you notice the severe clashes on the obverse? I don't know if I have ever seen clashes on fakes before. Maybe it is common; I am certainly open to that. But I have quite a few counterfeits and I have never seen die clashes on them. So, I am thinking that because this is 4.2 grams (.8 grams underweight) that maybe it isn't counterfeit and is instead either a severely rolled thin planchet or maybe struck on a foreign planchet. Next I am going to measure the thickness and diameter when I get home. Does this look fake to you? I honestly haven't studied Liberty nickels yet. I am leaning towards "Yes; it's a fake." I just can't articulate why. (Other than weak details in the TY of LIBERTY and the bottom CENTS on the reverse. Any comments/help is appreciated.
I am just wondering, why? If the original coin being copied had clashes on it, wouldn't they copy? If they were new dies the counterfeiters made, couldn't they clash them by accident or on purpose? Just wondering why clashes are harder to fake than anything else. Until I had proof it was an abnormal planchet, I am not liking the weakness on the coin not associated with wear, like the word CENTS.
Not really, as mentioned the coin the copied could have had clash marks, or the counterfeiters dies could have clashed. People used to tell me the same thing about die cracks. "you know it is real because has die cracks and the counterfeits don't." What the counterfeiters have been able to come up with dies that never crack? Baloney. Yes but they would be weak in the high relief areas. I don't see any detail loss on the high relief areas of the obv, but the lettering on the rev seems grainy and mushy. On the obv from 6 to 8:00 the denticals seem to have separated from the rim like beads. I really suspect this is a fake.
I don't like the texture on the obverse devices, and I don't like the vague denticles on either face.
