1938 Crown..Split Planchet.

[Fulvio]

A few Scope Shots..more to come.Having trouble getting clean shots,seems to be a bits of muck stuck inside.Some shots have disappeared in the downloading process?.

My there's a lot of detritus in there... must've spent a long time in various pockets.

So, the insides look legit enough, but I have a couple of concerns still...

Near as I can tell, every shot shows internal marks tangential to the rim at that point. Which is suspicious. The natural striations should all be more or less parallel, and therefore angled differently from different viewpoints. These look a lot like saw marks.

Additionally, I can't think of a natural explanation for that raised edge all the way around. If you look at AJ's, which clearly shows some signs of impact damage, its really minor, and patchy. This isn't.

Have you got images of the ends of the split? They should taper to a V-shaped crack. If they don't, that's again a sign of tampering. You may also find slight deformation of the still-attached part of the coin.

It'd be nice if you could clean it up inside... hose it out with high-pressure water maybe? Or an Acetone bath?

Based on what I've seen so far, my thinking is that someone found this, either slightly split or maybe just sounding hollow, and gave it a helping hand. I've got a hollow 10¢ myself that I've been tempted to butcher, though I've only gone so far as 'accidentally' dropping it on a tiled floor a few times. :angel:
I've taken the liberty of speaking to the Melbourne Museum about this on your behalf. They don't currently have a numismatic curator, but requested the pics to show some staff who may be able to assist. Certainly they do have the equipment to get to the bottom of this, hopefully they've got the right person to drive it too.

[Basil]

Thanks Fulvio,its very iffy but i'm still not sure.This is what caused me to loose interest in it many moons ago,it comes in about 2 grams under in weight so there is metal missing,also its about the same flat height as a normal Crown although one side is slightly higher you would think it should be noticeably higher in certain areas.
Anyway when all avenues & opinions are exhausted i'll try & clean out all the muck inside.

[trout]

It's not looking so good at the moment Baz

[purplepennyhunter]

Here is our 10c clam pictured in last months CAB magazine for comparison.

Maybe there was an air pocket in the metal causing it to be underweight which is why it split apart?

[Basil]

Yeah,it doesn't seem to have that type of markings but down the track i'll try and clean all the muck out as Fulvio suggests.The original dealer i showed it to picked up the gap is not symmetrical,if it was spinning in a lathe the cut should be even all the way around the circumference. Interesting Coin that i had all but forgotten about.

[Fulvio]

Here is our 10c clam pictured in last months CAB magazine for comparison.

Absolutely gorgeous, coin and photo. Clearly shows what I was talking about too.

Basil, I wouldn't stress about the weight too much, as PP says, it might have been born that way. The thickness however is another thing. If there's a wedge of metal missing, its not looking good.

Can we see the side that's still joined? How's the thickness compare there?

[ausjack]

try and look into the split and see if it's a cut like a wedge like a V I'd say it's tearing but if it's like a U I'd say it's been cut. If it's a V how can you get a blade with such a fine angle :winkextra:
That 10 cent would look really good with my 20 PP

[robbiegal]

it is fascinating!

[trout]

try and look into the split and see if it's a cut like a wedge like a V I'd say it's tearing but if it's like a U I'd say it's been cut. If it's a V how can you get a blade with such a fine angle :winkextra:

That 10 cent would look really good with my 20 PP

A jewellers diamond saw can make a surgical quality cut into metal :angel:

[SirDave]

A couple of the photos appear to show solid metal at the base of the cut which could only be from cutting of some sort.

Other parts look consistent with planchet flaw so I agree it iprobably started as a genuine flaw that has been exaggerated by intervention which is a shame.

[Basil]

Can we see the side that's still joined? How's the thickness compare there?

No side joined Fulvio,its a gap around the whole coin joined in the center,not the clam type split.The center doesn't seem to be uniform however,seems off set but will know more when i follow your advice & clean all the muck out.

[Fulvio]

its a gap around the whole coin joined in the center

Whaaaaaatttt???

Ok, lets think for a second about how these things happen.

A cold shut, which basically these flaws all are, occurs when two layers of metal fail to fuse properly, because one layer is too cold. The flaw may run through the roll at an angle, which gives us surface delaminations, or it may run through the middle parallel to the surfaces.

We've all seen pieces fall out of coins.. your classic cold shut that leaves a hole. And we've seen split planchets, or at least pictures thereof, where the sheet separated, partly or fully.

What I don't think anyone has seen, or at least I've never heard of any reports, is a donut with solid metal in the middle. Even if such a thing were possible, and I'm not saying its not, it would be a really freakish coincidence to have the planchet cut right at that spot.

That, coupled with those lines that aren't parallel, really screams "tampered" to me. The definitive proof, one way or another, lies at the end of the split, as AJ said, with a cut having a U or square bottom, whereas a natural split would decrease to nothing, like a crack in a wall does.

The hard part will be seeing in there.

[Basil]

Yeah Fulvio,its not the standard run of the mill clam type thing,the original photos show the entire rim of the coin,the gap goes around the whole circumference,whats wierd is its not an even cut(or break) its an uneven line which would be near impossible to cut without the cutting disc or coin being adjusted and this would leave a 'join' Thats what the original Dealer & his mate that i showed the coin to were on about,they didn't know what caused it.
After seeing AJ's coin i thought someone on here may know what it is or what caused it and i spent a couple of hours on Sunday trying to find it amongst all my rubbish,glad i did,i'll follow your advice and try & clean all the gunk out and see whats in there.
Thanks for all the replies from everybody so far.

[ausjack]

Yeah sorry we can't come up with a decent answer for ya yet Basil, but what a great mystery scooby

[Robster]

A great mornings read, thanks for sharing Basil.! Comprehensive and helpful replies from the forum members.!:good: