"Blank" 0

[Sharann]

This was inside the bag of coins we found. I am assuming it has something to do with them. Could it be a blank? The spots on it are indentions or tiny holes.

It will only let me upload one photo right now but I will try to upload the other side in a few minutes. It looks exactly like this side, but completely smooth. 

Edited February 22, 2021 by Sharann
Added photo

[bsshog40]

Doesn't look like a blank planchet to me. Looks like a heavy worn coin. 

[Sharann]

19 minutes ago, bsshog40 said:

Doesn't look like a blank planchet to me. Looks like a heavy worn coin. 

And it very well could be. It doesn't have a rim or ridges, of course they could be worn down also. 

[JKK]

That's a heavily worn coin. You can see the surviving imagery on the first image. At 41mm in diameter, that's wider than any dollar coin in our history. The diameter for a Morgan dollar is 38.1mm.

[Mr.Bill347]

I might accept that but the holes , I cannot see external wear causing that. I believe it should be checked out thoroughly. IMO it could be a planchette reject that somehow got into circulation. There dies appear to be some very faint lettering near the bottom.

[Mr.Bill347]

It looks similar to this

[JKK]

Looks like a bird grasping a bundle of arrows. Just not sure which country. But it's a country that minted 41mm silver coins in the modern era (when planchets became consistent in size).

[Sharann]

9 minutes ago, Mr.Bill347 said:

I might accept that but the holes , I cannot see external wear causing that. I believe it should be checked out thoroughly. IMO it could be a planchette reject that somehow got into circulation. There dies appear to be some very faint lettering near the bottom.

To whom should I send it to have it checked out? I think it is incredible that that can even be done. 

[Sharann]

2 minutes ago, JKK said:

Looks like a bird grasping a bundle of arrows. Just not sure which country. But it's a country that minted 41mm silver coins in the modern era (when planchets became consistent in size).

Like I said earlier, my eyes are gonna have to learn to see deeper. All it resembled to me was two eyes and a nose. But I was a preschool teacher so there's that, lol. 

[Sharann]

9 minutes ago, Mr.Bill347 said:

It looks similar to this

Yes, sir. It does. 

[JKK]

1 minute ago, Sharann said:

To whom should I send it to have it checked out? I think it is incredible that that can even be done. 

That's not what I would do. I'd first get well zoomed-in shots of both sides, well cropped, blow it up as big as we can. With the side that has a little remaining detail, try assuming that the image should be rotated about 30 degrees clockwise. Get a precise measurement of diameter (looks like 41 but you could be more precise) and weight in grams. Also, if you have any idea where it was collected, would care about that. If I'm going swimming in Krause, I want to be looking for the right thing.

[JKK]

To amplify: while the weight will be low, perhaps 10% low due to wear that has taken the coin to basal state, it'll be a limiter. At the very least, the original coin must have weighed at least that much. And if we get it blown up that much, if bsshog40's letters are visible, we might be able to make a couple of them out. It would not take our international specialists very many cues to zero in. Please also shoot the edge; let's see if it's reeded or what.

[Sharann]

Just now, JKK said:

That's not what I would do. I'd first get well zoomed-in shots of both sides, well cropped, blow it up as big as we can. With the side that has a little remaining detail, try assuming that the image should be rotated about 30 degrees clockwise. Get a precise measurement of diameter (looks like 41 but you could be more precise) and weight in grams. Also, if you have any idea where it was collected, would care about that. If I'm going swimming in Krause, I want to be looking for the right thing.

I will do the best I can. My microscope and scales should finally be here Tuesday and I should be able to get an accurate weight and much better pictures. I can tell you that the bag it was in looked like this:

[Sharann]

1 minute ago, JKK said:

To amplify: while the weight will be low, perhaps 10% low due to wear that has taken the coin to basal state, it'll be a limiter. At the very least, the original coin must have weighed at least that much. And if we get it blown up that much, if bsshog40's letters are visible, we might be able to make a couple of them out. It would not take our international specialists very many cues to zero in. Please also shoot the edge; let's see if it's reeded or what.

Got it! 

[JKK]

I mean more of where it might have been collected. For example, in the last two decades we've had large amounts of small coin souvenir piles combining Aussie, New Guinea, Philippine, Republic of China, and Japanese coins. We are not surprised by this, as a lot of Pacific War vets have passed on during that time, leaving these to their descendants. Hopefully it will inspire some of them to collect.

[Sharann]

31 minutes ago, JKK said:

I mean more of where it might have been collected. For example, in the last two decades we've had large amounts of small coin souvenir piles combining Aussie, New Guinea, Philippine, Republic of China, and Japanese coins. We are not surprised by this, as a lot of Pacific War vets have passed on during that time, leaving these to their descendants. Hopefully it will inspire some of them to collect.

I wish I could tell you anything at all like that but I really have no idea even where my husband got any of these coins and unfortunately he isn't here to tell us. I do know that there were no "foreign" coins in the bag, as to my knowledge anyway. It was in with mostly silver quarters, half dollars, and a few silver dollars. I am sorry I can't be more helpful. 

[JKK]

24 minutes ago, Sharann said:

I wish I could tell you anything at all like that but I really have no idea even where my husband got any of these coins and unfortunately he isn't here to tell us. I do know that there were no "foreign" coins in the bag, as to my knowledge anyway. It was in with mostly silver quarters, half dollars, and a few silver dollars. I am sorry I can't be more helpful. 

It's okay. We ask the questions and then we work with what answers are available. That looks very much like a bird to me, probably an eagle, clenching a bundle of arrows. If the coin weren't such a whopper, I'd think it was US. But do also bear in mind that some big silver from a number of countries circulated in the US through most of the 1800s, as our genius leadership managed to maintain a perpetual coin shortage. I know of no US business strike silver coin that has ever been 41mm in diameter, so this ain't one of them, period.

Also, in all candor, by speculating in this way I'm thinking I might trigger someone else to think of something that had not occurred to me. This happens a lot with editing, which is my real job. Client presents a story that has some trainwreck flaw. It's my job to explain the problem, discuss solutions, and at least propose a few. The minute I propose one, the client goes off, thinks, then comes back with something that will work but that I would never have dreamed up--that's a team win. Works the same here, at least one hopes.

[Sharann]

Well, Gentlemen, @JKK and @Mr.Bill347, I owe you both a big, enormous apology. I printed the ruler I was using because mine wasn't here at the time and was unable to get it.

Long story short... The ruler wasn't right and this ruler is. I am so, so sorry. I feel just awful for causing all that confusion. But I will know next time... 

[JKK]

It happens. Okay, so that's a Morgan-sized coin. The heavy wear could account for the slightly reduced diameter. I think we are looking at a grievously worn Morgan. If you compare that reverse with one of your others, rotating it slightly from the way it's shown, I think you'll see it.

[Sharann]

6 minutes ago, JKK said:

It happens. Okay, so that's a Morgan-sized coin. The heavy wear could account for the slightly reduced diameter. I think we are looking at a grievously worn Morgan. If you compare that reverse with one of your others, rotating it slightly from the way it's shown, I think you'll see it.

It also is not magnetic and is about 1/2 as thick. No ridges on the edge either

[Sharann]

[Lem E]

Is it possible that this was prepped to be turned into some sort of token and never finished? Love token perhaps? Just a thought.

[Sharann]

58 minutes ago, Lem E said:

Is it possible that this was prepped to be turned into some sort of token and never finished? Love token perhaps? Just a thought.

I suppose it is possible. Something I would never have thought of. I love that idea! Thanks! 

[Morpheus1967]

A note in general.  This is the second photo of yours I have seen where it appears you are using some sort of pliers/clamp to hold the coin.  While it is admirable that you are not using your bare hands to handle the coins, what you are doing is potentially worse.  I would invest in some cotton gloves to handle your coins, especially until you have them identified.  At the very least, only handle them around the rim of the coin, and never the obverse and reverse as I have seen in the photos.  

[JKK]

There are also these little finger covers you can get, which I call leprechaun condoms, look like miniature balloons not blown up. Easy to buy by the bag. There are also plastic coin tongs you can get for safer grasping.

[RWB]

The "blank" is a very worn Morgan dollar. There are collectors of such things, called "low ball collectors", but I don't know if this is one for them.

[Sharann]

3 hours ago, Morpheus1967 said:

A note in general.  This is the second photo of yours I have seen where it appears you are using some sort of pliers/clamp to hold the coin.  While it is admirable that you are not using your bare hands to handle the coins, what you are doing is potentially worse.  I would invest in some cotton gloves to handle your coins, especially until you have them identified.  At the very least, only handle them around the rim of the coin, and never the obverse and reverse as I have seen in the  photos.  

While I must say thanks for the advice, I have to confess that I haven't thought twice about handling them with my hands. Shoot, to be honest, the only reason I held them with those clamps is because I didn't have another way to hold the coin and take a picture of the rim. 

Thank you so much for telling me!

[Sharann]

31 minutes ago, Sharann said:

While I must say thanks for the advice, I have to confess that I haven't thought twice about handling them with my hands. Shoot, to be honest, the only reason I held them with those clamps is because I didn't have another way to hold the coin and take a picture of the rim. 

Thank you so much for telling me!

I will say that I did know that they weren't supposed to rub up against one another like they were doing in the bag, so I concocted my own book to put them in. It has taken many hours to do, but they are at least all separated and can be seen on both sides. And protected by plastic. I used plastic baseball card pages and a soldering iron, lol.  I have since been informed that some plastic can be harmful, so I will eventually invest in the proper storage materials. But it is gonna have to work for now, until I can do so. 

Like I said, I appreciate even the smallest tips and bits of advice. Thank you all again for being so informative and helpful. 

[JKK]

These are easy to use and excellent for your purpose. For Morgans and other cartwheel dollars, the cardboard flips that fit them are also very difficult to staple and easy to rupture the mylar. You can get album pages to hold twenty of those. To handle the coins, these look promising and inexpensive. For cases where you need to handle them with fingers, here are the leprechaun condoms.

While none of it is free, of course, neither is such a setup extremely costly, and it's safer than wielding a soldering iron on plastic near the coins.

[MAULEMALL]

nice pocket piece...