Expert: Dmitry Livshits - 2/8/2010

Question
I have a 1944 d 10 cent Netherland. The World coin book I bought says it is worth a fortune. Is that true and who can I find to buy it?

Answer
Hi Rick,
It is certainly true that an authentic 1944-D Dutch 10 cents is worth a lot of money. Very few of these coins survived after neatrly the entire issue was metled down for minting other dates/mints.
Being such a rare coin, there are many counterfeits and also genuine coins that are actuall a P mint mark that has been altered to look like a D. Since the P mint mark looks just like a lower case "d", some counterfeiters simply smooth down the stick part to make it look like a small letter "D". As a result, the genuine D is a little bigger than the doctored one.

I would be very interested in seeing some clear pictures of your coin, especially the mint mark. If it is all original, finding a buyer would be very easy for something like this. I personally have been looking for one of these for my own collection and would buy a nice example for pretty much full book value for the grade.

You can either attach 1 picture to a follow-up question, or e-mail me with multiple pictures at BetweenEarthnSky@yahoo.com

Moreover, I would suggest weighing the coin on a digital scale that is sensitive enough to measure tenths of a gram. Counterfeits will always be a little below the correct weight. I can also determine if the coin is cast (the preferred technique for counterfeiters) by looking at a high resolution picture of the surfaces.

Thanks for the question! =)