what's this??

[ausjack]

Sorry about the poor pic's as usual but wondering what you'd call this, it's an 81 50 cent

[Nevol]

Possibly a poor quality in the metal mixture.

[robbiegal]

hi jack
the picture is HUGE on my screen
but it looks to me like the rim has a ridge which ultimately could become  a split planchet the coils of metal for the planchet are rolled and rolled and rolled
so a mix that is partially separating can result in tears in the metal, and ultimately in planchet peels or shatter

the '81s  show up with a lot of errors and i've been told it was because there a was a strike at the RAM and the apprentices were running the minting show

[Ozcoins]

AJ does it sound normal when you tap it?

[Triggersmob]

I had a few coins like that, back in the 80s and 90s.
When you dropped them, they sounded hollow.
Before I started collecting seriously, I would wedge a
screwdriver in them and finish splitting them.

[ausjack]

sounds same hit with hammer

[trout]

sounds same hit with hammer

WOW love your delicate way of testing AJ :laugh2::laugh2:

[ausjack]

just a little tap, I was gonna drop it on the concrete but thought better :blush2: I was gonna try Steve's idea, I like his stye as well :good:

[Fulvio]

I heard someplace that repeated boiling/freezing can make these split. I would imagine it would take an awful lot of cycles so I've never tried, but its got to be better than dropping them on concrete, no?

[ausjack]

:mocking: I'm pretty bloody rough Fulvio but not quite that rough..yet

[Nevol]

I heard someplace that repeated boiling/freezing can make these split

We had a member here who tried that, but I think he ended up putting the coin back in the wild.

[ausjack]

:fie: I didn't do it, I didn't do it, wasn't me..who else could it be?

[enworb]

I was the silly bugger who tried the freezing then heating method. My coin looked a lot more split that yours is and it didnt work on that one.

[ausjack]

Thanks enworb..saved me a bit of trouble mate :good:

[Fulvio]

That may be where I remembered it from then.

But... why toss them back? I work on the principle that you can keep a coin many times, but you can only throw it away once. Therefore only actual junk gets rejected. Not like they're ever going to be worth less than face value, right?