Best way to dispose of counterfeit gold coins?

zas107

I have a handful of counterfeit gold coins (still made of gold though). Anyone know of a good way to sell these without them getting back on the market?

jwitten

Scratch a giant x on them. Doubt they would sell for over scrap then.

Weiss

You could send them to Midwest Refineries. Many of us on the precious metals forum have sold to them over the years. Rock solid and fair:

http://www.midwestrefineries.com/

Wabbit2313

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDelGqj7UGQ

AUandAG

I have used a cold chisel to X them front and back and then sold for scrap.

bob

zas107

@Weiss said:
You could send them to Midwest Refineries. Many of us on the precious metals forum have sold to them over the years. Rock solid and fair:

http://www.midwestrefineries.com/

Thank you so much! This seems like a great avenue. I will damage them and send them off.

Insider2

If they are actually deceptive, folks who teach authentication will often buy them as that is the only way we can get fakes besides the ones dealers give to us. Unfortunately, it gets expensive buying a fake and then a genuine of the same type and date to go with it.

Donating them to the ANA for a tax break/classes is another option.

RogerB

A hammer works very well.... Or - have the guy with a revolutionary way of cracking out coins handle it.

jwitten

Ooohhhh, put them on train tracks!! I've always wanted to see train flattened gold.

JBK

Why not stamp them with the word "copy" and then sell them to someone who wants to use them for educational purposes?

JBK

P.S. - are you 200% sure they are fake?

Insider2

@JBK said:
P.S. - are you 200% sure they are fake?

THIS! it is so true. Over the years I've had to tell knowledgeable dealers that a coin they thought was counterfeit was genuine more times than I can count or even remember. The most recent occurred since starting the "Yellow label Counterfeit Service" it happened six times in the same submission! Trust me when I tell you the genuine coins were in the dealer's "Black Collection."

asheland

I would deface them first. Unless they're going to education.

Gazes

@Insider2 said:

@JBK said:
P.S. - are you 200% sure they are fake?

THIS! it is so true. Over the years I've had to tell knowledgeable dealers that a coin they thought was counterfeit was genuine more times than I can count or even remember. The most recent occurred since starting the "Yellow label Counterfeit Service" it happened six times in the same submission! Trust me when I tell you the genuine coins were in the dealer's "Black Collection."

Didn't quite a few dealers tell the owner of the 1854-S $5 gold piece that sold for millions that it was a fake?

jwitten

Good point, really. I took a raw 1911-D $2 1/2 to a clueless dealer once who told me it was a fake. It obviously wasn't, and I had it graded xf45 by pcgs.

JBK

...and one of the 1913 Liberty nickels was presumed to be a fake for a number of years. Good thing the family decided to just keep it around anyway.

Insider2

@Gazes said: "Didn't quite a few dealers tell the owner of the 1854-S $5 gold piece that sold for millions that it was a fake?"

That's what I read. If true, it makes my case. There was nothing on the coin that could possibly cause any knowledgeable dealer to think it was a counterfeit.

That said, there are some very deceptive fakes that hit the market every so often.

Timbuk3

I'd keep them as is and use them as teaching tools in the future !!!!

BryceM

I think there are plenty of people here willing to buy something like this as a teaching tool. I'd deface it with a big "X" and offer it up for sale here on the BST.

On the other hand...... I once attempted to buy some counterfeit/altered coins here on the BST for teaching purposes at our local club. A dealer sold me three otherwise reasonably valuable coins, supposedly with removed mintmarks. After receiving them, I wasn't so sure they weren't the real deal. All three straight-graded with our hosts and I eventually sold them for a rather nice profit. It was great..... but I still had nothing to show the club.

3stars

If 100+% certain they are fake and are actually gold - Fold in half with a hammer and vice, then repeat, then flatten out with a hammer. Gold is soft enough for this to be fairly easy.

rte592

If it's a big enough coin turn it into a coin ring, keep or sell after that.

ricko

These are all good suggestions...For me, being a collector, I would go the refinery route if really gold... that way I free up cash. Cheers, RickO

CuKevin

If you want to donate/sell them to education, don’t deface them first!

Washingtoniana

send them to Roger, and he'll arrange a meeting with team of Secret Service agents to take the coins into custody

Greeniejr

If you have a number of pieces, you may be able to have a dealer send them to the refiner for you. When I worked at the coin store we had an office of NTR a few blocks away who did small refining lots in a few hours. We would offer to walk people over there and have the pieces melted. We would charge a fixed percentage of the final assay. If this is available, you can know that you are not getting cheated on the actual gold content and that the pieces are being disposed of.

CaptHenway

@Insider2 said:

@JBK said:
P.S. - are you 200% sure they are fake?

THIS! it is so true. Over the years I've had to tell knowledgeable dealers that a coin they thought was counterfeit was genuine more times than I can count or even remember. The most recent occurred since starting the "Yellow label Counterfeit Service" it happened six times in the same submission! Trust me when I tell you the genuine coins were in the dealer's "Black Collection."

Good advice! Back in the early 80's when I was young and single I decided to go the Saturday Night Fever route and wear a $20 on a gold chain. I asked a major dealer I was friendly with if he had any counterfeit Saints and he sold me one at melt. Took it back to my table and discovered it was genuine with a really funky not original surface. Took it back to him and said it was real and just give me my check back and he said keep it. Even as real it was not worth much more than melt.

Funny thing was, about five years later a fad for Saints developed in Japan and I got double melt for it from a dealer who needed to fill an order.

MrEureka

Many counterfeits are worth a premium to melt. Some are even worth more than real coins. If you’re not sure about your pieces, ask us before destroying them.

PerryHall

I had a couple of counterfeit gold coins many years ago. I disposed of them by returning them to the coin dealers that I bought them from and demanding a refund.

1Mike1

How about some photos?

mustangmanbob

For the value of gold, and the POSSIBILITY they may be real, I would just do an economy submission and see what happens. If they are indeed counterfeit, then bring on enough damage to prevent them from being sold as real.

Without any evidence, I would suspect refiners may not blanket dump everything into the pot.

philographer

@zas107 said:
I have a handful of counterfeit gold coins (still made of gold though). Anyone know of a good way to sell these without them getting back on the market?

1. Tell us the story, how did you acquire them? Let us stand on your shoulders and learn from your experience.

2. How about some photos? What attributes enabled you to determine they’re fake?