Double head 20c coin - Update: it's a "magician's coin"

I got this 20c coin in change today with heads on both sides and am wondering if it is a fake (manufactured so you always get a head on a flip) or is it something the genuinely can happen? The rim is normal with no signs of a join.

 

Good question! I just tried weighing several 20c coins on my crappy scales and they range from 11.3 to 11.4 grams, but this double head is only 10.55 grams. So its definitely underweight.

 

I doubt if a coin could be in circulation for 50 years without someone picking it out.

 

Pic of the edge?

 

Pics below. One side looks stamped in quite deeply.

 

If it's a fake, it's a very, very good one, and I know for a fact that you're not an ex-mint employee from 1967 who's personally stamped out an "error" coin after hours.

If you seriously found that in your change I reckon it's almost certainly a legit error.

 

I'll bring it along to the next meet. But as Sammy said, how would such a coin survive in change since 1967 without being picked out?

 

http://www.joelscoins.com/2headedcoins.htm

 

That could be it!

 

Hmm from that article " Magician's coins are made by various firms by taking two nickels (or quarters or whatever), hollowing out one, leaving the edges and one side of the coins, then trimming the other very slightly around the edges and on the back, then fitting the trimmed part into the hollowed part"

Could the circle outline on one side of the coin be from someone doing the above, and then using a hammer or some sort of press to hit the coin in past the ridges?

 

I found another article with diagrams: http://www.australian-coins.com/blo...ins-is-my-double-headed-tailed-coin-real.html

This description matches the one I found. Definitely a magicians coin.

 

$2!

This is an auction, right?

 

Thanks to Midastouchofgold I learnt something completely new to me today!

Found a youtube clip of how they are made:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXOXPZ0VKFM[/youtube]

 

Yep. They are for sale on ebay too. You might get 10-20$ for it. Not a bad find after all.

 

I didn't realise you were in Tasmania at the moment *high 5*

 

Now how can I use this coin? Always calling heads when flipping?

 

SP
Can you take a photo of the coin with mirror reflection of the observe plus with the rim???

 

Even if its a fake .. its a nice fake ... and it obviously has a story behind it, most likely larrikin lathists .. even if hasnt been minted in the dead of night by some RAM worker.