Found a hollow sounding half?

jim4silver · May 16, 2008

Today I found a 1995 D half that seems light and sounds hollow. I through some halves into the dump pile and heard a weird sound. At first I thought maybe I missed a 40% or something. Then I found this coin. It is definitely not right. Anyone find anything like this before?

Jim

XX · May 16, 2008

Shake it in a GLASS jar until it separates. Could take up to a minute or two and you may have to shake it hard, but you will find a surprise inside.

Please post pics after you get it open.

jim4silver · May 16, 2008

I got it opened. It has a copper 1980 "20" something Mexican coin. I don't have a digital camera now so I can't put a picture up. Who makes these things?

Jim

XX · May 16, 2008

Hope you used the jar to open it. Using a razor blade tends to ruin the trick coin.

Congrats on the find.

jim4silver · May 16, 2008

You must be psychic. I couldn't find a glass jar so I used a bit of "force" to open it. Is it made from a real coin or is it a fake? It looked real from the outside, but was light.

Jim

Silver_Fox · May 16, 2008

They machine out a real coin for the hollow half on a lathe. I saw it on TV. I'm not sure how they make the other half. I found jusat the hollow part the other day in a machine roll. I have about 5 of them.

jewelerdave · May 16, 2008

I found two of them this week, the coin counter rejected them, I had the tellers open them up as it just needed a bit of prying with a knife,
They were impressed when I told them of the mexican design in side. They were like, How did you know?
I have 3 or 4 of them that I have found, sometimes I just find part of one.
two in a week is not too shabby.

its a neat magic trik, use it to amaze people with your special powers!

jim4silver · May 16, 2008

I found mine in a CWI roll. What is funny is some CRHer had marked the face of it. I think I ruined the magic trick factor due to the "force" I used to open it. It was the only thing I found in the whole box worth keeping though.

No more CWI boxes for me. They always suck around here. Not nearly as good as Brinks.

Jim

TxTim · May 16, 2008

I have almost a full roll of them.
Some have mex. coins and some have brit. pennies in them and the best ones have a quarter which opens to reveal a dime.
If they are light or sound hollow - confirm a magic coin by flipping them over to see if the sides don't line up.
Sometimes you can see the hairline on the back side.

thurmownator · May 17, 2008

TXTim said:
I have almost a full roll of them.
Some have mex. coins and some have brit. pennies in them and the best ones have a quarter which opens to reveal a dime.
If they are light or sound hollow - confirm a magic coin by flipping them over to see if the sides don't line up.
Sometimes you can see the hairline on the back side.

I've got about thirty of them. There was a guy who used to post on here who is also a magician and wanted to swap some 90%ers or 40%ers for them. He seems to have "disappeared". 8)

If you're still around, PM me if you're still interested.

LJ · May 18, 2008

I have found many of these as well. I give most of them away and have only keep a handful. Some go to tellers who think they are so cool.....some to folks who haven't found any yet.....a couple to family members.

They are fun to find.....a novelty.

coinmojo · May 18, 2008

Count me in with about 40 of these....

Mojo

danny1987 · May 24, 2008

Could someone post a picture?

jim4silver · May 24, 2008

I just found another one of these. This time it is a 1998 D. I am going to find a way to open this one without destroying it like I did the last time. I can see the seam on the back side near the rim.

Jim

Silver_Fox · May 24, 2008

Found another hollow half only. 1971.

Immy · May 24, 2008

I've found two but traded one of them to scotto for some Mercs. Good deal all around!

Near the bottom of this thread coinmojo posted some great hollow half pix.

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,91828.msg1054979.html#msg1054979

jim4silver · May 24, 2008

I got it opened and it has a mexican coin that says estados unidos mexicana on it. It does not have a number on it. I put it in a plastic kitchen drinking glass and shook it hard and it opened in a few seconds. Kind of neat. But probably not worth much.

Jim

Goes4ever · May 26, 2008

I have searched a lot of halves and have not come acrosss one yet..........

jim4silver · May 26, 2008

Goes4ever said:
I have searched a lot of halves and have not come acrosss one yet..........

It depends on your technique for searching. If you just search rims and look at dates, you will miss these because they look like regular clad. I have altered my technique a bit in that I look at the rims first, search the ones that look like silver or proofs, then hold the stack in my hand a drop them one at a time (but quickly) into the other hand making a stack. If you do it this way you can hear the difference in sound between a clad and silver. The silver "cling" sound is different than the clad "cling" sound. I have found a 40% or two that I missed by checking the rims since using this technique. If you are not sure what they should sound like, test it yourself using a 40% and with a 90% and you will hear it. Both the 40 and 90 sound pretty much the same to me though, but much different than clad.

Anyway, while doing this if you get a hollow coin, it will sound different enough from a clad that you will think maybe it is a silver. The sound is different enough that you will check it out. The first hollow I found was by tossing the coin into a pile of halves a hearing the odd sound. Since using the above technique I was able to find a second one. I am sure I threw out a few from the beginning by just searching the rims and dates.

Jim