Reality Check

Edward Tinker · 12-28-2002, 01:04 AM

Well, I came across this today in the latest Reader Digest. Considering how many of us try to convince ourselves that something is real. This story fits in with guys trying to justify a non-traditional Luger markings. Well, read this:

[quote]Reality Check

One afternoon a woman phoned me from a local Army base, identifying herself as Specialist so-and-so and declaring she had a dime with the customary profile of FDR on both its heads and tails. Private mints produce such coins for tokens at carnivals and the like; they look legitimate enough that some get into circulation.

The soldier asked me if her dime was real.

I explained to her what would I have to happen for this coin to be from the U. S. Mint. At the end of the manufacturing process, this coin would have to escape a bag sewn shut, roll the entire length of the production floor and climb back into the press. The press would have to malfunction at exactly the same time as it did the first go-round, when it left one side of the dime blank, and again hit this one dime only on the blank side. It took a good 15 minutes to explain all this.

There followed the long silence I had come to know excruciatingly well in my job. "Oooookaaay," the woman said, slowly, meditatively stretching her vowels. "So what you're saying is, there's a chance it could be real."<hr></blockquote>

12-28-2002, 01:04 AM	#1
Edward Tinker Super Moderator Eternal Lifer LugerForum Patron Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: North of Spokane, WA Posts: 15,966 Thanks: 2,066 Thanked 4,595 Times in 2,116 Posts	Reality Check Well, I came across this today in the latest Reader Digest. Considering how many of us try to convince ourselves that something is real. This story fits in with guys trying to justify a non-traditional Luger markings. Well, read this: [quote]Reality Check One afternoon a woman phoned me from a local Army base, identifying herself as Specialist so-and-so and declaring she had a dime with the customary profile of FDR on both its heads and tails. Private mints produce such coins for tokens at carnivals and the like; they look legitimate enough that some get into circulation. The soldier asked me if her dime was real. I explained to her what would I have to happen for this coin to be from the U. S. Mint. At the end of the manufacturing process, this coin would have to escape a bag sewn shut, roll the entire length of the production floor and climb back into the press. The press would have to malfunction at exactly the same time as it did the first go-round, when it left one side of the dime blank, and again hit this one dime only on the blank side. It took a good 15 minutes to explain all this. There followed the long silence I had come to know excruciatingly well in my job. "Oooookaaay," the woman said, slowly, meditatively stretching her vowels. "So what you're saying is, there's a chance it could be real."<hr></blockquote> __________________ Edward Tinker ************ Co-Author of Police Lugers - Co-Author of Simson Lugers Author of Veteran Bring Backs Vol I, Vol II, Vol III and Vol IV