Liberty Nickel with stamping on it????

[JOEK62]

I was going through my collection and saw a #4 on front and an "E" stamped on the back into my liberty nickel. It really took a lot of effort to stamp this coin as the stamps are very deep. Just was wondering if this might be a way of the US mint stamping it for destruction and maybe had it slip through. The coin is probably a G6 or better which probably may or may not matter. I really like the look of the coin because the stamp appears to be as old as the coin. Any help on this is appreciated.

[MarkFeld]

Welcome to the forum.

 

I am all but certain that the stamp was produced outside of the Mint.

 

 

[WoodenJefferson]

This could have been used for a marker like a mine entrance tag or a million other uses or just a test sampling of the punches. It's what is deemed as a 'post mint' alteration.

 

Got any pics?

[bstrauss3]

Search for Countermark / Counterpunched - lots of info on these.

[CaptHenway]

Over the years many people who want to play with a metal punch (give your average male a metal punch and a mallet and see what happens) have chosen to use the most convenient source of a piece of metal...a coin from their pocket. Afterwards they just spend it.

[coinman_23885]

Over the years many people who want to play with a metal punch (give your average male a metal punch and a mallet and see what happens) have chosen to use the most convenient source of a piece of metal...a coin from their pocket. Afterwards they just spend it.

 

I think you may have implicitly discussed some of the psychology behind DCarr's operation in your comment.