1861 Counterfeit Dime

livetoplay804

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Apr 25, 2005
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Hello,

I wish I could take credit for this find, but I cannot.? A gentlemen from my club here in Sprinfield MO found it last month.? He is an avid Civil War Relic Hunter. His name is Phil.? He has founds more things over his years than most museums have.? But this one is a first for him.? He needed help finding out more info about it.?

He found it about 4 or 5 inches down on the side of what appeared to be a hut indention or some sort of dug out area.? An obvious man made indention.? It is marked 1861.? It does have the words one dime on the back. The hole, not sure.? Prove it counterfeit, wear around someones neck, I dont know.? This is what we need help with. It is not silver, it is a metal alloy of some sort.? Iron maybe, didnt scratch too much on it.? The silver paint? is flaking off.?

Someone said at our meeting the other night that counterfeit is worth more than the real ones in some cases.

Any ideas? Anyone ever find one like it before?

Chris in SW Missouri
 

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jeff of pa

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it Depends on if it's a "Period" Counterfeit.
(A dime bought alot back then. so Counterfeit Dimes are possible),

or if it's a modern Production.

the Hole in the Center makes me think, most likely counterfeit and holed to prevent its future use.
as with the hole the content would be easier to see.
? ? Altho' If you look Close that hole is a Little too Perfectly centered.
as if, done by machine.
? ? ? it may be a piece of early 20th. century jewelry.

either way, it's a Very Cool find.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Jeff
 

lonewolfe

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Hey!! You can see her _ ipples!!!! ;D

Cool find!

HH

Lonewolfe
 

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livetoplay804

livetoplay804

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Apr 25, 2005
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Ok, lets recap, perfect hole perfect _____ipples?

Anyway, never thought of that, the hole is perfectly centered and looks to be a machined hole.

Hope someone has some more info on it. Lets keep this thread going. Someone out there surely knows about it?

Thanks for all the replies.

Chris from SW Missouri
 

bk

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Kinda reminds me of a counterfeit seated quarter that I found a while ago.
I have about a half dozen of these coins that I found detecting.
 

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Fredneck

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I dug the counterfeit Gold Dollar at a Civil War camp and when I cleaned it with water the gold gilt ran right off it . Tell Phil his is in great condition and congrats. Thanks for showing it.

Dave
 

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livetoplay804

livetoplay804

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Apr 25, 2005
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Thanks for all the great replies. I am going to print all of these and take them to our next club meeting and give them to Phil. Its one thing to find an old coin, one of a couple million or so, but to find one that is counterfeit, how many of those are out there.

Everyone keep diggin and good luck.

Thanks,
Chris from SW MO
 

Mystro7

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Mar 30, 2005
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I am pretty new to the coin collecting field but have been finding out there have been quite a few counterfiet coins made in the past. Do some research on line and youll find em. You never know you may even have one in your pocket right now.
 

redbird

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Jul 29, 2005
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that is a well known counterfeit (to seated dime collectors anyway)
1861 seated dime, die struck from hand cut dies (not at the mint) bronze or brass alloy, presumably silver plated, design is very close to correct, but not quite, obviously made to circulate as money during a time when a dime actually bought something, quite a few around, (usually without the hole)? ?
 

tsgman

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I know this is late, but I was with the guy who dug that dime, I dug a teardrop at the same site, along with a couple dropped 54 caliber bullets
 

redbird

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here is a better pic of the famous 1861 counterfeit dime, this is a die-struck counterfeit, from hand-cut dies. very similar to the real thing but a sharp eye will pick up a few subtle differences in the counterfeiters design.

1861bogo.jpg
 

Iron Patch

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Very cool and I wonder how long it lasted before the plating started to wear and show the truth below.
 

U

umrgolf

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Iron Patch said:
Very cool and I wonder how long it lasted before the plating started to wear and show the truth below.

A lot longer than this quarter :laughing7:
 

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