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Below is my post from the Coin community forum forum about racketeer nickels... I'd like to weigh in here by presenting an article from the Smithsonian magazine that show a racketeer nickel unearthed in Deadwood. This is the "only know racketeer nickel to be unearthed in an archeological dig". https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/brief-history-racketeer-nickel-180961066/ I think this puts to rest the idea that "real" racketeer nickels had ridges on the edges. The plating process of the day employees a solution of gold chloride to put a thin layer of gold. This was and is often referred to as jilting or a gold wash. This was used to coat the inside of teaspoons, drinking glasses and bowls. This type of plating would not adhere well to the ridges of a coin. This would look particularly bad if the edges were done in a crude handmade process. The coin found at Deadwood had no ridges and the plating is a good example of jilting. The modern electro plated coins have a shiny smooth finish and over time this process causes the copper to migrate to the surface and break the gold surface (copper creep). Better modern flashed coins take this into account. The photos here show a modern racketeer nickel made a few months ago.  
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 This is a handmade countdown calendar from a 19 year old soldier serving in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970. After running the shop for over 10 years now my wife is very use to me coming home with some incredible stories from the shop. If you have visited the shop no doubt you have heard some really interesting stories about the people we meet and the things we buy. I would like to share some of these stories with you and I hope you are entertained and maybe like me you might learn a bit about history and humanity from these stories.
We take some license to change events to protect the privacy of everyone involved. David Mc |
Hello - this is David McConaghy, owner of New England Coin Exchange. I love coins and have spent decades building my knowledge with formal training, reading and asking tons of questions. If you have questions call, text or email us and we will do our best to help you. If you have visited the shop you have no doubt heard some of the interesting stories about what happens in the shop. Most of the encounters have taught me something and I would like to pass these lessons along to you. We fully respect our customers right to privacy and confidentiality so we do not reveal names or specific dates and prices. I typically change those aspects of the stories to protect the privacy of our customers. In most cases I have received approval for the parts of the stories that we discuss. |
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LocationNew England Coin Exchange
1053 Park Ave Cranston, RI 02910 (401)339-2934 Wed to Fri 10-5 Sat 10-2 No appointments needed email: [email protected] |
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