The term "contemporary counterfeit" can be ambiguous. Usually it means "contemporary to the time of the thing being copied," such as making a copy of an 1875 nickel in 1875 or a few years later. Recently, I have heard "contemporary counterfeit" used to mean a fake coin that was just made; i.e., contemporary to today regardless of the date of the coin.

This article is about the first type of "contemporary counterfeit," made at a time when the fake coin was used solely as something to spend. There was no intent to defraud a numismatist; this mini-thief just wanted a candy bar or a bottle of sarsaparilla.

In order to make his fake nickel, the counterfeiter started by hand-cutting a set of dies. A planchet (or, most likely, a group of planchets) came next, usually composed of whatever base metals were handy. After striking the "coins," the counterfeiter had little trouble getting them into circulation. After all, it was only a nickel, even in 1875.

Close inspection shows crude work that wouldn't fool any serious numismatist. But this isn't a coin to be serious about, anyway. It's more of a novelty than anything else, and actually rarer than its genuine counterpart.

The obverse shows digits, letters, and devices that were crudely made.
Nice, even wear on the reverse has softened the glaring errors.
You can really appreciate the sharpness of a genuine U.S. coin when you compare it to this home made version.