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Fake 2018-W Proof American Silver Eagle Today
Akbeez
Posts: 2,689 ✭✭✭✭✭
Too good to be true? Well, yes it is. Picked this "bullion" coin up for a bit more than spot. Suspicious, but thought it would be an interesting lesson. When it arrived, the first thing that struck me is I didn't order a proof coin. So the proof finish and W mintmark got my immediate attention. There were a few other tells like serifs on the lettering and a grainy look on the devices. Weight was right at 1.000oz. Dazzling mirrors. This could likely fool someone without a critical eye.
Pay no attention to the coin packaging that proudly states "Made in China"!
Here it is with the real deal for comparison. Easy to spot side-by-side.
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no detail on the eagles feathers among many other things.
Played/playing with many of those.
With the correct weight there must be some type of dimensional issue. From the pic the diameter looks about right. What is the comparative thickness? Moly, tungsten, or ?
It appears smaller in diameter, but it's an illusion with a slightly different rim width. ~4 cm. Don't have a micrometer handy to measure thickness (missing since the quake!). I'm guessing it's silver with it's high reflectivity.
Silver plated brass. I've taken the Dremel to a few. No profit in using silver to counterfeit silver bullion.
It really should not be hard to spot. The whole thing looks pretty bad from the details of her gown to the lettering and date. It really is a pretty crummy fake.
Thanks for sharing your story !!!
Because it is dated after 1949 it should be illegal even in China yet it comes with a "Made in China" label. I wonder how many of these are headed for flea markets ... without the packaging (though the packaging does nothing to make it legal.)
Side note.
What is interesting is the sticker on the plastic bag.
The english written “Made in China” is obviously meant for sale outside of China. The stock/lot numbers makes it appear there is a quantity/inventory of the item.
This leads me to believe that whatever organization that is selling the product is organized. Perhaps even profitable. Was it packaged in the US or overseas? Tracking number.
I have almost the same round shipped from China....but without the mintmark.....proof....same "Made in China" label (exact..same product number)...kinda like a proof with EU highlights..... told them it was fake and requested a refund and a paid return shipping label...they offered me 50% back..I refused..eventually refunded 100% ..."no need to return coin, just give us 5 star review"...REALLY?
Auction was taken down after I reported it and before the refund was issued....
So now I have an example of a decent fake at no cost to me and they are out FVF and shipping costs
Clearly a fake to those who know ASE's.... likely there will be a lot of flea market rip offs...Cheers, RickO
Are they advertising these coins as real Silver?
If they are, and they're not Silver, it's FRAUD even if it states "Made in China"
There are a whole lot of people who don't know what a real ASE looks like. Some don't even know who makes them.
Pete
How much did they charge you? You can pm me if you don't want the share publicly. TYIA
The ASE is now the most commonly counterfeited US coin coming out of China.
bob
Ok...I will set myself up for criticism but...I absolutely knew the product i was ordering was fake...but it looked like a very good fake and I knew I would eventually get it for no charge AND hit the seller with shipping and FVF's....I actually wanted a comparison "coin"
Oh..and it was listed as a genuine silver BU 2018 American Silver Eagle...$16.99. Listing has been removed by Ebay from my purchased list but they left the seller's ID...sells mostly crap stuff
That's the same seller. I basically did the same thing you did -- certainly had my suspicions. The seller emailed me last night with the same 50% refund offer and "keep it". Of course, I will demand a full refund!
May have to try that just for kicks! The density of brass is 8.73 g/cm³. Silver is 10.5 g/cm3. A brass core would have to be volumetrically larger to weigh the full ounce.
And with silver spot low there are people thinking now is the time to buy silver from where ever rather than reputable sources. Not good. Peace Roy
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It's kinda lame to buy a known fake from a slime dealer BUT, if you can get them for zip ,AND have them pay the FVF's and shipping maybe it will be a deterrent ...or not. Maybe I should have bought a roll that was also available....
I should add that I do NOT see anymore ASE's for sale by this seller
When you kick them back................they fly farther.
Pete
Point was (is) that this dealer is presently not selling fake ASE's anymore .....so a minor success.
Yes, in one case the diameter was the same but fakes were noticeably thicker. Have had others that were correct diameter and thickness but only weighed in the 27-28 gram range. Everyone rants and raves about that sigma pm verifier but heavily plated coins, gold and silver can pass the test. Plenty of US based sellers listing fakes now, I've had more than one try to pass off fakes as authentic, as soon as I receive and let them know they are fakes they immediately refund 100% and say just keep the coins.
I should have added that one of my points for being a fake was that the a real ASE did not fit into the capsule that the fake one was in....so the fake one is smaller than a real one
As an aside, Chinese sellers pay no fees ( listing or fvf ) plus they get e-packet rates for shipping.
Hmmmm....I understand the e-packet shipping thing but why no listing of FVF's...is that a "belief" or a fact
Why would a seller from China have to pay nothing to list and sell stuff?
the width of the 6 vertical bars on the reverse shield is usually the first sign of chinese ASE intervention.
The things I don’t always agree with are always worth considering.
Seller previously outed here.
Uses a couple of different ebay IDs including "hot-creation" and "more-online." His MO is a high number of listings for rechargeable batteries. I too, took advantage of the free counterfeit ASE (after refund) primarily to warn others with feedback.
The things I don’t always agree with are always worth considering.
Great Minds!!
Paying a little over Silver Spot for Brass is not a good deal.
The U.S. Mint needs to pull its head out of the sand and use modern anti-counterfeiting technology.
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It wouldn't have fooled me, seen many a ASE. The date and the Eagle jump right out at ya.
Yup..but getting it for free isn't that bad
From a previous post:
No clue what you're referring to.
Commenting about recognizing that the "coin" in the listing was fake and not buying it....but the seller used images of real ASE's in the listing
Obviously in hand there would have been no problem determining that it wasn't authentic