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Chinese Yuans Fake or Struck from Worn Dies?
 | By Ken Potter, World Coin News
March 30, 2009 |
This month we start out with a Chinese 1914 dollar that collectors affectionately refer to as the "Fat Man" dollar. Two of these were sent to me that were struck with dies so weak in detail that the owner suspected them to be counterfeits.
At first glance, both coins also appeared to be double-struck in the collar, but unlike most in-collar double strikes, one of them has normal reeding while the other seems to have normal reeding in some areas and then tightly spaced "double reeding" in other places. They are both shown here one on top the other with an area of the "double reeding" showing for the uppermost coin.
Neither exhibits a partial collar strike, or what is often referred to as railroad rim. A railroad rim on reeded-edge double-strikes would show as two tiers of reeding, one tier flared out wider than the other. A partial collar on a double strike helps to verify its authenticity as a genuine error. It is usually present on most examples of the error type, but it is a condition that is not always present due to conditions explained later in this article. Thus, its presence can help authenticate but its lack of presence does not necessary condemn a coin as a fake.
I also note that the coins are nearly 39 mm in diameter (one coin measures 38.995 mm and the other 38.85 mm) and that both are severely underweight. The first weighs 20.4 grams and the second is at 19.8 grams, versus the normal 26.4 grams noted in the Standard Catalog of Word Coins. Weight alone would normally suggest they are counterfeits, but as we shall see, this might not be the case.
According to Chinese coin specialist Richard Nelson of Tarzana, Calif., this is a very common date on a very common coin that was often struck from worn dies. He stated that many were restruck from the original dies over many years and that the issuers could not always be trusted to make sure the coins were of full weight.
In fact, the Standard Catalog of World Coins states the following: "Although bearing dates 1914 through 1921, these Yuan Shi-Kai dollars were struck for years afterwards. Coins dated yr. 3 (1914) were struck continuously through 1919 and were also later restruck by the Chinese Soviets. Later again, in the 1950's this coin was struck for use in Tibet."
According to Nelson, there may have been good reasons to suspect the weight of the genuine coins since many clandestine activities were going on within the Chinese mints at that time.
As a side note Nelson mentioned that many cleaver shysters would actually separate these coins into halves horizontally and then shave out as much silver as they could and replace it with lead. He noted that the halves were then fixed back together resulting in many "new" varieties of obverse/reverse die marriages that did not in actuality exist.
Then there is the question of the doubling. What is it? According to Nelson, it might just be related to very sloppy die setups or what might be called extreme examples of "strike doubling," similar to what is often seen on early American coins. However, sight unseen, Nelson (who now has limited vision) cannot be sure. So my question to the specialists out there is: What it is? I'd appreciate some feedback on these coins from other specialist that may be able to shed some light on this mystery.
Bob Fowkes of Michigan sent in a Chinese Republic No Date (circa 1912-1920) 10 cash that is definitely more easily attributed as an in-collar double strike error than our previous coin. It is a nice flip-over version where you can see the obverse and reverse designs melded in together as a sort of composite design with the obverse or reverse dominating on opposite sides (in each case the understrike shows to a lesser degree).
What this smooth-edge coin does not exhibit is a partial collar to help authenticate it as genuine. Once a coin is ejected from the collar it expands slightly, and as a result it is difficult for it to fully re-enter into the collar. Though the pressure of the strike can occasionally force them in all the way down, more often than not it does not and a partial collar results. The portion of the edge that does not re-enter the collar will expand slightly since there is nothing to restrain the flow of metal, while the portion of the edge that gets forced back in retains the normal diameter of the coin. While it is not present on this coin, all other indicators suggest that it is genuine.
Next we look at a German 1922-A 200 marks aluminum coin with a doubled die reverse. What's interesting about this coin is that it shows significant areas of strike doubling damage on so much of the legend about the rim that it is sometimes difficult to tell where the hub doubling (doubled die) ends and where the strike doubling begins. In some areas, you'll see both. In spite of this, the strongest areas of hub doubling appear unobstructed and are best seen on EIN of EINIGKEIT, on HEIT of FREIHEIT, the eagle's claws, right side of tail feathers (viewer's left), star below and eagle's tongue. An identifying die marker for the variety is extensive die clash marks on the obverse as shown here.
Die clashes occur when a planchet fails to enter the coining chamber during a press cycle and they smash or clash into each other, leaving light impressions from each die on the other.
This coin was listed for Gary Smith of Indiana in July of 2005 for the country, date and denomination as VCR#1/DDR#1.
Finally, Smith also sent a Series of 1957 Spanish 5 pesetas coin with the actual date of mintage obscured by hub doubling. The last two digits of the actual date of mintage normally appear within the tiny star near the left rim on the reverse. In addition to the doubled star, hub doubling can also be seen in the stylized elements of the lower eagle pointed out by the arrows, the feathers at the ends of the arrows and in the shield. I listed this one as VCR#2/DDR#2.
Hub doubling is possible due to a phenomenon known as work hardening. This causes the metal of the face of a die to become too hard and too brittle to allow a complete image to be sunk into the die in one operation without causing it to crack or shatter (during the multiple hubbing process). As a result, several impressions or hubbings are required to produce a die when using this process. Between each hubbing the die is removed from the press and annealed (softened), thus allowing for another impression without shattering the die. If for some reason a partially finished die is reinstalled into a press for strengthening and the hub and die are improperly indexed - resulting in a misalignment of images - or if the hub varies in design from the one(s) used for earlier impressions, hub doubling will result. The multiple hubbing process was replaced by a number of countries in recent years by the more modern "single squeeze" restrained hubbing process.
Strike doubling damage is not hub doubling (or what hobbyists call a doubled die) but technically a form of damage that occurs within a split second of the strike, just prior to or during ejection. This form of doubling is very often mistaken for hub doubling. Collectors new to the error-variety hobby with an interest in doubled dies are urged to learn the difference. Not knowing what you are buying could cost you hundreds of dollars wasted on a form of doubling that adds essentially no value to a coin.
Contact Ken Potter by e-mail at Kpotter256@aol.com, or visit his Educational Image Gallery located at www.koinpro.com.
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