Shaved or Cut coins.

[jhar]

I have read from several sources that precious metal was often "shaved" from gold and silver coins before the US began using lettered and reeded edges to in part discouage that practice. This practice yielded the person cutting metal from the coins a sizable poke of gold or silver shavings over time. The coins eventually would be too light, and would be rejected by a shop owner, because the precious metal content of the coin would be much less than the value marked on the coin.

 

My question is this. Does anyone own or has anyone seen one of the coins with this kind of "damage"?

 

 

[Oldtrader3]

The penalties, particularly under English Rule, were very severe (hanging) for shaving money. I have seen planchet adjustment marks but I don't think that I have seen shaving of coins.

[michael]

yes i hAVE seen many they usually refer to these coins as clipped coins and usually you see more older pre 1750 coins that are clipped like the silver mass coinage the pine tree shillings to be exact

usually coins that are thin and not collared or have a higher edge or are not reeded or with some kind of edge design

 

you see many midevil and ancient coins clipped as their edges and roundness is not exact

 

maybe someone on here can post some photos of clipped coins?

 

usually you really do not see many if any clipped usa coins

 

i am sure many usa gold coins have been sweated or somewaht shaved probably more sweated to get the gold and still be able to pass off the coin as not having any gold removed from it and i am sure with many worn gold coins that are fine or below there is some significant metal loss that really affected the coins value say during the 19 th early 20 century

 

you can tell these above coins if you look close enough and know and understand waht you are looking ast

 

now for me my example of sweated gold coins is to put them in a leather bag/pouch and rub shake them vigeroiusly against the bag where much of the gold from the coins is rubbed into the leather on the inside of the bag

 

when the bag gets enough gold attatched to it they burn the bag to get the gold

 

even in the counting rooms at the mint in philadelphia once a year they would clean the chimneys where they would refine the gold and also all the rugs in the counting rooms for the double eagles and eagles

 

the rugs would yield many ounces of gold! and even moreso with the chimneys

 

michael

[michael]

onve king henry the VIII learned that some mintmasters were shortchanging underweighing the gold coinage

 

he called them all together and removed their testicles and their right hands!

 

the right hand was removed because

 

the left hand was never used as it was the toilet hand if you get my drift

 

so by removing the right hand from the wrist these men would suffer the indiginity of using the left the toilet hand for their other uses such as eating and daily use which was taboo back in medievil times

 

this has been done before in english history!

 

michael

[MAULEMALL]

Damm Michael...GREAT posts.

[TomB]

I have a 1776 crown sized silver coin, I forget which country it is from, that has holes drilled into the edges to apparently extract the silver and then the holes are plugged with what looks like small brass pegs. The edge was then silvered over.

[jhar]

[MastaHanky]

I like my women the way I like my gol...er....never mind.

[jhar]

[BillJones]

onve king henry the VIII learned that some mintmasters were shortchanging underweighing the gold coinage

 

he called them all together and removed their testicles and their right hands!

 

the right hand was removed because

 

the left hand was never used as it was the toilet hand if you get my drift

 

so by removing the right hand from the wrist these men would suffer the indiginity of using the left the toilet hand for their other uses such as eating and daily use which was taboo back in medievil times

 

this has been done before in english history!

 

michael

 

It's pretty ironic that old Henry VIII would be handing out such punishments for debasing coins. The portraits on some of his silver coins came to be called "old copper nose" because the coins were debased and the high points turned brown when the coins were in circulation. From what I've read old Henry was keeping the profits from doing this for himself. I don't guess his toilet habits were radiacally altered however...

[Architecht]

It's funny that shaving coins was such a terrible crime, but debasing the currency is a ?valid? tactic for rulers...

 

http://www.acton.org/publicat/m_and_m/2002_fall/mariana/ch12.html

[GDJMSP]

As a collector of columnarios I have seen many shaved coins. It is most prevalent on the cob designs. It was the purpose of placing a design a design on the edge of a coin to stop this. If the design was missing on the edge - then it was presumed the coin had been shaved. Reeding on our coinage has the same purpose of course - but it is no where near as attractive.