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

SpacePete

SpacePete

Well-Known Member
Silver Stacker
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.

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Bullion Baron said:
Does it weigh as per spec for a standard 20c piece?
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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.
 
Weight difference is way out, t4, fake... But hey it's only 20 cents... Good for you to do a coin flip with someone...but make sure you choose heads...
 
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.
 
Big A.D. said:
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.
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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?
 
SpacePete said:
Big A.D. said:
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.
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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?
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I'll give you a dollar for yer trouble mate, that's 5 times its face value.... 500% markup bro!
 
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?
 
Midastouchofgold said:
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?
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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.

OK let's get back to the fake double headed or double tailed coins. These do exist and are not too hard to find. This is apparent by the fact that we have many questions from the readers of this blog about double tailed/headed coins that they've found or have been in possession of for some time. We'd say that out of all the questions we've had about this type of coin, that exactly one may have been genuine. The first reason is that almost all of them have been heavily circulated and as I mentioned above these coins just would almost never get into circulation. The second reason is that with a genuine double headed/tailed Australian coin the two sides are always 180 degrees rotated from each other. This is because of the way dies are designed, if you put an obverse die into the reverse side of a coin press it will be rotated 180 degrees and the same thing happens with the reverse die. So what are these fake errors called? The most common name is a magician's coin. So how are these coins made? I am aware of a couple of methods which you can see below.
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bubblebobble2 said:
SpacePete said:
Big A.D. said:
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.
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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?
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I'll give you a dollar for yer trouble mate, that's 5 times its face value.... 500% markup bro!
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$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]
 
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.
 
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