My First Barber.....Counterfeit or Just a Freak????

civilman1 · Oct 26, 2009

My 6yr. old son and myself spent the weekend at my brother's for his cousin's B-day party.He just moved into a new house but was still moving from the old one still.There is a field behind his house that I've hunted before and have pulled colonial button's and some pistol ball's out of.I only hunted for a 1/2 hr. until I got a good signal on the MXT........out pop's my first Barber.After cleaning it there was something that just didn't seem right.......for one it was very light and when dropped it didn't have that "silver sound",a normal sized Barber is 17.9mm,this one read's 18.6mm.,all in all it doesn't even look right.Any info on this coin would be well appreciated as I'm not much of a coin guy.Thank's and HH!!

allen · Oct 26, 2009

put this coin on the coin forum,
they might be able to help you
on it a bit better.

cedarratt · Oct 26, 2009

It does look awful white almost like nickle and not silver. Look carefully around the edge to see if there is a sprew mark anywhere, I know that they used to make wax molds of Silver dollars then melt actual silver dollars down and add copper to them to turn one dollar into many. The one I saw had a sprew mark that had hand filed groves on it to cover up the sprew. I also have an 1862 Indian penny that looks like its almost nickle in color and the details are real rough likes it been corroded but the date and letters on the front are still sharp, I am suspicious of and I think that it may be a counterfeit as well.

civilman1 · Oct 26, 2009

cedarratt said:
It does look awful white almost like nickle and not silver. Look carefully around the edge to see if there is a sprew mark anywhere, I know that they used to make wax molds of Silver dollars then melt actual silver dollars down and add copper to them to turn one dollar into many. The one I saw had a sprew mark that had hand filed groves on it to cover up the sprew. I also have an 1862 Indian penny that looks like its almost nickle in color and the details are real rough likes it been corroded but the date and letters on the front are still sharp, I am suspicious of and I think that it may be a counterfeit as well.

No visible sign of any sprew.Thank's for the info......HH!!

scrounger d detector collector · Oct 26, 2009

some chemical fertilizers can be very harsh in concentrated form

maybe some was spilled there

bula · Oct 26, 2009

For what it is worth, the first barber I found looked more nickle than silver but it was found at a ball park & they use lots of fertilizer. I had a so so expert look at it & he confirmed that it was real. Yours looks good to me.

Bavaria Mike · Oct 26, 2009

Almost looks like aluminum, I would surely know if I touched it as I find many aluminum coins here in Germany that psych me out, LOL. It does look counterfeit and I would think it is better than finding a silver Barber dime as I have not seen a counterfeit Barber dime found ever. Interesting, unique and unusual find for sure! HH, Mike

hogge · Oct 26, 2009

The Beep Goes On · Oct 26, 2009

If counterfeit, it's interesting that they chose to utilize a smaller denomination coin. Either way, great find!

MonkeyBoy · Oct 26, 2009

Sort of looks like it might have been heated.. and that might explain why it is larger.

Mb

Texasgopher · Oct 26, 2009

That is very odd looking. Hey, even if it is a counterfeit, it is a counterfeit of a barber so I'd still count it as my first. :wink:

Cool either way i think.

skierbob · Oct 26, 2009

Looks real to me. I've seen a few Barbers with that coloration. Depends on the type of soil it was found in and the cleaning technique used.

Bob

Jason in TN · Oct 26, 2009

Looks good to me. It has been in the ground a while. The one looks worn more that would explain the size differance.

Jason

MUD(S.W.A.T) · Oct 26, 2009

Hello

I have to agree that it is real...

I agree with Jason that it is not worn like the other one so its thicker and bigger. I agree with Skierbob that its just a coloration from the soil. :read2:

Also with monkey boy maybe its been heated. I do not think it is fake or counterfeit. Again with the counterfeit thing, people have to understand. That counterfeits of the few that have been made, were porely made. Images would be off center, they look funny. Your dime looks to perfect to be a fake. Its center, the detail that is there is to nice to be a fake. Its just the way mother nature changed it. Great find !!

Keep @ It and HH!!

{Sentinel} · Oct 26, 2009

Wow that is a weird one there Joe

JerV3 · Oct 26, 2009

Congrats man,

Looks real to me. They get that heavy white oxidation on them at times. I have found them in really bad shape before. I'd have to say real for sure.

HH Jer