Tweet
Good evening, all. Thank you in advance for any and all assistance provided. I have a 2000 Denver Sacagawea Dollar that weighs 9.14 grams and appears to have been struck on an off metal planchet. The planchet appears to be a solid metal, not an alloy as evidenced by the edge of a normal Sacagawea Dollar. I believe it to be brass but cannot say for certain. It also is thicker than a normal SAC Dollar. It appears to me to also have what seems to be a collar, or wider rim on it.
I found some information on small dollars .com website about test planchets used for the then upcoming and new SAC Dollars. I read that the test planchets were made of solid brass and had a collar on them to gauge wear and damage as they were tested. There are links for more information but the pages that they lead you to are no longer active pages. The test planchets were not struck as I understand, and were distributed, handled, and collected in return by a third party vendor, so I'm not sure how this may have come about.
I have had people tell me it is a counterfeit or a magic coin. I do not discount the counterfeit theory at all, but all the devices on the coin seem authentic and correct. It would be some kind of counterfeit. The small dollar webpage refers to counterfeits as being within normal weight and dimension tolerances but not of the alloy "sandwich" metal like US Mint issues. The magic coin theory is plausible, but it weighs more, not less, than a normal SAC Dollar and it sounds as solid as any other coins when setting it on a marble table top. I also tried referencing a directory type resource that listed all the foreign planchets used by the US Mint for any potential matched by weight as metal but I found none. I have included a few photos for reference. Any insight that can be shared is sincerely appreciated.
I found some information on small dollars .com website about test planchets used for the then upcoming and new SAC Dollars. I read that the test planchets were made of solid brass and had a collar on them to gauge wear and damage as they were tested. There are links for more information but the pages that they lead you to are no longer active pages. The test planchets were not struck as I understand, and were distributed, handled, and collected in return by a third party vendor, so I'm not sure how this may have come about.
I have had people tell me it is a counterfeit or a magic coin. I do not discount the counterfeit theory at all, but all the devices on the coin seem authentic and correct. It would be some kind of counterfeit. The small dollar webpage refers to counterfeits as being within normal weight and dimension tolerances but not of the alloy "sandwich" metal like US Mint issues. The magic coin theory is plausible, but it weighs more, not less, than a normal SAC Dollar and it sounds as solid as any other coins when setting it on a marble table top. I also tried referencing a directory type resource that listed all the foreign planchets used by the US Mint for any potential matched by weight as metal but I found none. I have included a few photos for reference. Any insight that can be shared is sincerely appreciated.
Comment