LostDutchman Posted August 25, 2006 Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 i am looking for thoughts on this one..... kinda looks like a turkey..... it's a weird one.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burks Posted August 25, 2006 Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 Very interesting piece you have there. The eagle's head just doesn't look right. As you said, more turkey like than eagle. Wonder how many people it fooled. What are the letters next to the date? Looks like K.E. or W.E. to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostDutchman Posted August 25, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 i don't know looks like WE..... might this be a pattern??? wasn't the turkey almost the official bird of the united states??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Stilson Posted August 25, 2006 Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 Ben Franklin wanted that noble bird. Not the bird of bad moral Character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hussulo Posted August 25, 2006 Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 Aparrently there were 1803 PATTERN COINS, DIE TRIALS & FANTASIES but they were for Half Eagles. Regular Dies Trial Piece in Copper, Judd 27, Pollock 6045. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottishmoney Posted August 26, 2006 Report Share Posted August 26, 2006 I would have to see the piece in person, but it appears to me as though there is a bit of a trace of gold plating left in some of the recesses of the piece, perhaps this was made as a counterfeit, plated and passed off as a $10 piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostDutchman Posted August 26, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2006 that could very well be true..... it has stumped me... if someone did make a counterfiet they sure spent a lot of time on it.... the bust is very very close... but i guess $10 was a lot of money in 1803....lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vfox Posted August 26, 2006 Report Share Posted August 26, 2006 I've seen a few of these at my dealers shop, too bad I never was able to get one before it was sold. Anyway, he calls them kettle coins (most are made of kettle brass/bronze), and said they were used as gambling chips, and on occasion, such seems to be the case with this one, gold plated to pass as the real thing. I'm going to assume the WE initials are that of the die engraver for that particular token, but I can't say for sure. If you're interested in selling that btw, I wouldn't mind getting my little paws on one finally lol. It's a nice coin/token though and most were made around the period of the actual circulated coin. Hope that helps a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hussulo Posted August 26, 2006 Report Share Posted August 26, 2006 Link to simmilar coin for sale on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/Unknown-1803-Liberty-C...1QQcmdZViewItem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottishmoney Posted August 26, 2006 Report Share Posted August 26, 2006 If it were a counterfeit, it is still quite collectible, though not quite as valuable as the real thing unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlueke Posted August 26, 2006 Report Share Posted August 26, 2006 My vote would be for a contemporary counterfeit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtryka Posted August 26, 2006 Report Share Posted August 26, 2006 I don't know, maybe it's the angle of the photo, but to me it looks like Liberty has a goiter. I would vote contemporary token, as it would seem odd for a counterfeiter to put his initials on his work in such an obvious way (unlike the Omega). What lettering is on the edge? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottishmoney Posted August 26, 2006 Report Share Posted August 26, 2006 I've seen a few of these at my dealers shop, too bad I never was able to get one before it was sold. Anyway, he calls them kettle coins (most are made of kettle brass/bronze), and said they were used as gambling chips, and on occasion, such seems to be the case with this one, gold plated to pass as the real thing. I'm going to assume the WE initials are that of the die engraver for that particular token, but I can't say for sure. I have heard of Kettle Tokens before, this was a firm in Birmingham England which made many contemporary tokens, and counters for games etc. They are believed to be the source of these early American gold coin counters. Have a look here: Kettle Tokens Reference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conder101 Posted September 13, 2006 Report Share Posted September 13, 2006 Clearly a Kettle token. If you look on the obv near the rim between the 3 and the last star you can see the word KETTLE. The KE and final E are clear the rest a little hard to see. These was game or counter tokens, contemporary, but not contemporary counterfeits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vfox Posted September 13, 2006 Report Share Posted September 13, 2006 Clearly a Kettle token. If you look on the obv near the rim between the 3 and the last star you can see the word KETTLE. The KE and final E are clear the rest a little hard to see. These was game or counter tokens, contemporary, but not contemporary counterfeits. I own a brass one of these now, not quite as nice shape, but same idea basically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elverno Posted September 14, 2006 Report Share Posted September 14, 2006 The Kettle company produced a number of tokens and medals during this era. I've seen these before; they're almost always in VG or lower condition. While they technically were produced as gambling tokens I've seen some that had been gold plated. I suppose if you were trying to pass them in Britain they wouldn't know what an American gold coin was supposed to look like... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted September 15, 2006 Report Share Posted September 15, 2006 Another new thing I learned from the forums! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.