1901 IHC Double Overstrike?

jstraw13 · Member

Hello Everyone,
This one has me baffled. It's a 1901 IHC that looks like it's been struckover twice on the obverse, but with a ***7? The reverse looks like it was hammered because the letters are indented and backwards. Your thoughts?
Obverse shots: Letters and number are raised.

Reverse shots: Letters are indented and backwards.

Dick · Expert Member

I may be wrong, (and am very often), but it looks like someone has put the coin in with another, and put a LOT of pressure on them. Enough ti transfer the devices onto the other, maybe trying to create a clash, ot maybe even more far-fetched, a double struck coin. It does not look like any coin I would want.
Dick

Bob P · Site Admin

The reverse marking were post mint made with a modern Lincoln cent as evidenced by the motto 'IN GOD WE TRUST'. The obverse is a little more intriguing though. It almost looks like a counter clash of some sort. I will leave that up to one of the error coin specialists to comment on.

eagames · Expert Member

Hmmmm...

My 2 cents... before the real experts speak Wink

The obv stuff initialy looks interesting but the reverse was done by smashing the coin in a vice with a Lincoln obv against the IHC rev.

Because it's reverse was in a vice smashed with a lincoln (against the IHC rev) my bet is on the other side (against the IHC obv) it might have had a piece of soft metal so it created a soft die in that metal then they moved the coin and that soft metal that already had the (neg) imprint of the IHC obv made the second IHC obverse markings. That explains why the IHC obv is not a negative but the lincolns IGWT on the rev is a negative.

I vote it's totaly made in a vice after mint, it's actualy a vice/soft die job.

Just my vote... Let's see what others think.

jstraw13 · Member

I completely agree with the comments on the reverse. The obverse is the more interesting aspect. Especially the number 7 under the 'D' of UNITED. Wouldn't it take an awful lot of pressure to do this in a vice?

eagames · Expert Member

Not sure how much pressure it takes but there have been many of those soft die coins on ebay so it must not be too hard to make them.

This thread had some info on the subject:

http://www.coppercoins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1719&highlight=soft+die

Smile

Dick · Expert Member

These little "beauties" are not just the "old garage job. There are hydraulic peress that can exert many tons of pressure. and in the Auto-body repair industry, the "porta-powers" have a lot of force, and are easily set up. All it takes is a bit of creativity,and "an ulterior motive", and one can do more than you realize!
Dick

coop · Expert Member

A medium size vise can do the expect affect. Remember these are copper planchets and make an easy impression in them from another coin. It funny that the squeezed coins are usually the same denomination? But the mirror image created give it away along with the devices that are higher making an impression of a coin rather than one from a die which is a negative of a coin.

jstraw13 · Member

Thanks all. Thought I might have stumbled across something with this one.

mikediamond · Advanced Member

The obverse was struck (or squeezed against) a fake die. The soft, blended overlap is diagnostic of such crude fakes.