Most major error and die variety discoveries, especially those which make headlines and sell for big bucks, tend to draw the attention of opportunistic scammers. Some of their skills are scary good with some going as far as making fake dies, making planchets with exact diameters, weights, and metallic contents, and even professional-looking reeding and rims. There are many fakes and altered favorites like the 3-Legged Buffalo nickel and the 1955 Lincoln cent doubled die, but also targeted are coins for which there are only literally a handful of known examples. Such is the case for the coin below. Here is a genuine 1943 Mercury dime which had a set of fake 1943 Lincoln cent dies strike it a second time to make a rare and highly desired double denomination. Other than the misshapen diameter and minor rim flattening that are key flaws, notice how incredibly good the Lincoln cent designs, lettering, and numerical shapes are for a 1943 Lincoln cent. As to why someone would create this altered coin, it is important to know the genuine example also shown here sold for $33,600 in 2018. Someone did a pretty decent job that would fool most collectors and experienced dealers who don't know much about the minting process. In my opinion, learning the basics of how coins are minted, how they used to be minted, and when major processes changed is key to help avoid getting scammed. I bought this as an educational piece from a friend. Unfortunately, someone paid about $50 to find out it is an altered coin. The altered example is on top; the genuine one is below. Scary how incredibly similar the markings are, ain't it? Genuine photos courtesy of, and with the permission of, Stacks & Bowers
Thank you for pointing out just how good some of those "opportunistic scammers" are. Makes me wonder how many non-error coins they made that are out there. Especially semi-key coins that don't get as thorough look over as key coins do.
Joe, that Counterfeit Linc/Merc was around in the mid-70's, at least. Notice how the bad coin is flatter, and the design elements of the overstrike are not as strong as on the genuine example. This was considered 'pretty darn good' as a counterfeit, bad then......
