Fake 1893-S and 1889-CC in fake PCGS slabs. Please report.
mbogoman
Posts: 5,185 ✭✭✭✭✭
Seller has two items, both blazing fakes in fake PCGS slabs. The 93-S is horrible; the 89-CC is going to fool some people. Please report.
mbogoman
Asesabi Lutho
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Reported. Slabbed lol.
Reported. Good catch.
Unbelievable.... Cheers, RickO
L@@k at the prices! Fakes that are not even bargain priced. I wonder if the Bozo seller has any idea what he has?
Done.
Please help educate those of us that haven't been around lately...
Since the items are being called "blazing fakes", obviously we're not talking about a PCGS screw-up and they slabbed fake coins. So these must be fake PCGS slabs.
The last time I was active in this coin forum, it seemed that fake PCGS slabs were only the stuff of legend, and fakes on ebay were unheard of.
Anyone got a short lesson on detecting these fakes?
I am no expert on slab labels, but when I look at the label for the 1889-CC, I see a light blue patch in the paper to the right of "MS-63", and the lettering in the grade area is mildly faint and not crisp. I have never seen that on a genuine PCGS slab.
As for fake PCGS slabs they are out there, and that's why the company has spent so much money on the new, thicker slabs that have more safety features in them.
The label fonts are off on both slabs, the font on the 93-S label is wayyyyy off. Just compare them closely with valid labels and you will see. These things stick out prominently to eyes that have seen enough authentic labels. The bar codes are off as well. Look at the spacing of the bars on the 89-CC label - the gaps are irregular and very wide in some cases. Again, to an experienced eye it sticks out like a flashing neon light.
Edit to add: thanks for pointing out that I hadn't mentioned that they were fake slabs in my OP. That was my intent; I just forgot to do it. I have edited the OP accordingly.
mbogoman
https://pcgs.com/setregistry/collectors-showcase/classic-issues-colonials-through-1964/zambezi-collection-trade-dollars/7345Asesabi Lutho
for posterity:
Reported.
GONE...good job
The Coin Posse strikes again!
Check out my current listings: https://ebay.com/sch/khunt/m.html?_ipg=200&_sop=12&_rdc=1
looks like one got pulled and the other one pulled by the seller. thats fine
Just for reference sake, here's a pic of my own 1889-CC. Note the font and the bar code and compare with the fake one above.
mbogoman
https://pcgs.com/setregistry/collectors-showcase/classic-issues-colonials-through-1964/zambezi-collection-trade-dollars/7345Asesabi Lutho
I messaged the seller and asked for them to volunteer to pull and got this response.
New message from: lavineinternational (17,429YellowShooting Star)
Thank you for the information. PCGS does not seem to want to get involved, seems as if they sold their proprietary rights to some of their slabs, to the highest bidder Country and now have a huge international mess of which was started by their own actions. The rest of us will keep on losing money. We purchased over $20,000.00 from ebay in the first two months of this year of slabs, collections and single coins and found everything from single fake morgans to whole rolls of fake morgan dollars. If purchased on ebay, you can get your money back, you just need to prove everything and jump through their hoops.
Thanks for your time.
Is it just my imagination, or is one of the simple diagnostics here is that a REAL label is printed blue using "half tone" where as the bad fakes simply use colored paper?
So the 1893-S XF45 above is fake and 1889-CC AU50 is real (that's where I think I see the difference in the background, the fake looks like a solid blue color, the real looks like the blue was obtained with half-tone).
The font seems to be a dead ringer... the only thing that my eye sees different about the font is the dash (-) between the year and mint mark.
However, I do think I can see the "messy" bar code on the fake and the sooth bar code on the real one. Not surprising there since the crooks likely are not using super high-end printers to print these, and there's some pretty fine details in the bar code.
No, some of the earlier labels were all blue.
If you get a "thick" PCGS slab with all blue paper, that is bad.
Pardon my lack of knowledge (I'm a newb!), but is there any concern for fake slabbed coins being offered on auction sites like Great Collections?
My impression of Great Collections is that they have the expertise to spot a bad coin in a bad holder.
I think the biggest danger comes from "details holders" where a "problem coin" labeled as such which turns out to be a counterfeit. So far these seem to have been cases wher the TPGs certified counterfeit coins, but I could see these cooks putting counterfeit problem coins in their counterfeit holders.
Great collections would not be a problem.
bob
Seller of that account hasn't sold anything in over a year. Guessing it was a hijacked account via our new friends in Russia.
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
BOOMIN!™
Take a tour of this PCGS website. Great history of front and backs of real slabs. Well worth your time!
https://www.pcgs.com/holders
Nic
Guides Authored - Graded Card Scanning Guide PDF | History of the PSA Label PDF