1953 Henning Nickel Confirmed and New Die Marker

Henning Nickel Die Marker Discovery Made by Me (Joe Cronin) on a Coin Found by Lee Mansfield.

Several days ago I was contacted by Paula Schommer-Bluhm (from Coin Q & A) about a coin owned by Lee Mansfield. I was asked to review if his coin could possibly be a Henning nickel, and the rarest date of all his famous Jefferson nickel counterfeits: a 1953. (His most well-known and easiest-to-find date is the 1944 missing the "P" mintmark. In order of rarity from rarest to most common, his dates include: 1953, 1946, 1947, 1939, and the 1944 "No P.")

Lee found this 1953 nickel after searching for varieties, errors, War nickels, Buffalo nickels, and plain ol' album fillers in a $100 nickel bag. He remembered hearing about Hennings and submitted this coin to Coin Q & A for someone in her group to look at his photos. Paula, knowing I am an expert on Henning nickels and was searching for a long time for a 1953 Henning, contacted me directly. I eventually had Lee mail me the coin to photograph and examine in-hand.

There are a number of ways to identify a "genuine" Henning. Some easy checks include:

(1) A "Looped R" in the word PLURIBUS on the reverse, while some without the Looped R have the Jefferson Memorial "Dot" Reverse.

(2) His coins are also usually underweight or overweight (depending on circulation length and/or damage). Oftentimes the 1944 "Dot" reverse examples are less than 5.0 grams (4.7 - 4.8 grams), while those with the "Looped R" reverse tend to be overweight (5.2 - 5.5 grams). I have a video of this coin's weight below.

(3) The metallic composition of his fakes are usually 79% copper and 20% nickel versus the standard 75% copper and 25% nickel. (His fakes usually also have a trace of manganese and iron.) You will need access to an XRF X-ray scanner to do this test. I have the results in a photo below.

(4) They all tend to have a very "porous" look to them in areas where there are no designs (called "fields") and exhibit almost like a sandstone look. They also often exhibit several tiny, raised, pimple-like dots often found on counterfeit coins.

(5) Most look very, very worn and would be given poor grades of Good, Very Good, or Fine as he likely used worn, heavily-circulated coins to make/forge his dies.

Here are the photos of the coin. It has the classic porous look, is not that great of a grade, weighs 5.5 grams, and scanned at 79% copper and 20% nickel, but it has neither the "dot" reverse nor the Looped R.




However, it has another flaw seen on most of the "Looped R" reverses I discovered a couple years ago, which I will now officially call the "EN Marker." This is a depression in the coin (from a flaw on the host coin when the die was made) found above and in between the EN in the word CENTS. (Look at any of Hennning's dates with the Looped R reverse. You'll see it unless the coin is damaged or is too heavily worn from circulation. I provided several other Henning reverses below from my collection with various dates to show you this mark.) This flaw is NOT on the "Dot" reverse coins.







With Lee's discovery of this super rare date from Francis LeRoy Henning (of which I have literally seen only a small handful), and my brand new discovery that there's more to look for than just the "Dot" or the "Looped R" on the reverse in terms of visual clues, I am guessing you Henning nickel collectors now have to check your coins all over again. Good luck!

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

@Insider I am anxiously waiting photos of your Chinese fakes of Henning nickels you say you've seen.

 

Oy vey, now I have to go back and look at those dates more carefully.
Thanks for the info and post Joe.

 

Thanks for the reminder. Heck, only one so far and I took photos. If I remember I said I would post it so I'll look. Remind me again iSept - Oct if you don't see it posted. Better yet send me a PM now saying "Where is the Beef!" Thanks.

PS I promised to post for J Y. also. I had planned to use it for a counterfeit column. As I remember the coin is micro-granular, with a very sharp edge. It would not fool you.

 

10-4, Pal. I will be sure to do so in the coming weeks.

~JC

 

A fake of a fake. I’m on the edge of my seat

 

I want to find one...

 

That's what I was going to title the column.

 

I am wondering if ICG would slab them as such - yellow label saying « 1939 Henning 5C, fake of a fake »

 

Yes, they will

 

What is a henning nickel?

 

I think it was a coin developed by Doug Henning, the magician.

 

I think I read it was a counterfeit by Francis Henning.

 

We slab and grade them with the yellow label as Henning Nickels. I have only seen ONE modern Chinese-made copy (fake-of-a-fake)of a Henning. It was high grade and granular with a very squared off edges.

 

Is there a picture of a Chinese fake available?
Never just one cockroach

 

Based on my research and results of this particular 1953, would you/ICG certify this as a Henning nickel?

 

I just read the ENTIRE thread. I never saw the OP before adding my comments. IF the 1953 has the EXACT depression, then it must be a Henning. In order to get it certified as such you'll need to send it in with a genuine Henning with the depression. Then I'll call you.

Although it would cost more money and take months to get it back, if it were my coin, I would send it to NGC (they can check the composition) with two genuine Henning's for comparison along with a letter outlining your research.

 

So, are you telling me that ICG does NOT have an industrial XRF scanner? If that's true, I am kind of shocked by that being a TPG.

 

Henning should of went with the no date buffalo

 

LOL, I'm not surprised that you are shocked. Lots of folks posting on coin forums still use a magnet to detect fakes.

The fact is, over forty years ago (when you were possibly a YN) the top authenticators in the country stopped using specific gravity testing and x-ray defraction tests for coin authentication. Back then, we found that any ACTUALLY deceptive counterfeit was of equal quality in virtually all scientific based comparisons to a genuin coin.

IMHO, the major use for this type of testing is to determine the correct Judd # of genuine Pattern coins and the particular mine the silver used to strike genuine 8 Reals came from. Otherwise, they belong in pawn shops.