Mexico 10c 1910/00 overdate

[Thulium]

Here is a recent overdate find. First, the markers for the 1910/00:



The whole coin is a better grade and nicely toned:



The Krause listing:

[Figleaf]

A decade overdate is not unheard of, but it's strange nevertheless. My understanding is that overdates are made to save money on unused dies of bygone years. Here, you'd have to draw the conclusion that the die had been lying around for nine years (and didn't rust) before it was decided to change its date.

I am not a fan of rainbow toning, which reminds me of coin cabinets made of young wood, but I like sand toning.

Somehow, I think you are into overdates.

Peter

[Thulium]

A decade overdate is not unheard of, but it's strange nevertheless. My understanding is that overdates are made to save money on unused dies of bygone years. Here, you'd have to draw the conclusion that the die had been lying around for nine years (and didn't rust) before it was decided to change its date.

Peter, I'm also skeptical this die was sitting around for 9 years, since this coin type was not minted in 1900. Krause states it's a 1910/00, but I think it's far more plausible this is a 1910/09--where the prior 9 digit was completely polished away, and only a portion of the 0 remains. I also wondered if this was merely a die blunder that was corrected, such as the last two digits were first impressed at 180°. In other words, a 1910 looked like "1901"--later fixed. But, I've changed my mind--1910/09 makes far more sense.

I also agree that a ten year spread on an overdate is pretty extreme--but not unheard of. I have some overdates from Belgium that are considered 1920/10. Perhaps I'll make another post and discuss that situation. And yes--overdates are my speciality.

I am not a fan of rainbow toning, which reminds me of coin cabinets made of young wood, but I like sand toning.

I'm also a big fan of sand toning on ancients. In the case of this coin, it's due to a special lighting technique I use to bring out details, which also accentuates toning. It's normal silver toning, which only appears more colorful due to reflections. Perhaps the color is distracting, and I should toned down saturation in my software.