Are there Fake slabbed coins?

Shane6596

Im going to start collecting morgans.
I have another thread about that. Probably will mostly try to go with slabbed coins as i build my collection.

Are fake slabs something that exist and should i be concerned as im buying? Or is faking slabs something that would be in the more rare, multi-thousand dollar coins?

Thanks for any info on this.

PeakRarities

Yes.

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1082973/the-unofficial-reporting-post-for-fake-pcgs-slabs#latest

Shane6596

Im reading through the link now, thank you.

Looks like it will answer all my questions.

jmlanzaf

Faking slabs is cheap. It is actually more likely to find moderately priced fakes than expensive fakes. I think $10k coins generally get too much attention.

PeakRarities

@Shane6596 said:
Im reading through the link now, thank you.

Looks like it will answer all my questions.

Most of the counterfeit slabs I’ve seen are pretty obvious to detect, you’ll see what I mean as you familiarize yourself with that thread. As you handle more coins and get used to what a pcgs slab looks like you will be able to see that they miss a lot of the details. The Chinese are pretty crafty though, give it a few years and I might not be making that claim anymore.

Shane6596

Ill stick around the $100 - $150 price as i start and hope i dont get a bad one.

Cougar1978

Yes - run……

Seriously - big ticket u betcha!

Do a search for the threads here about them. Lately seems a thread about one every day.

Small ticket under $100 -$200 sb ok.

Shane6596

Its crazy looking through that thread. Not surprising tho, people been scamming forever.

pursuitofliberty

If you stick with PCGS or NGC, do the certification verification. That's a start. Many will have images, or links to where they may have sold before.

If it's too good to be true, it probably is.

Read, study ... and study some more.

It get's easier, and more fun, over time.

Shane6596

@pursuitofliberty said:
If you stick with PCGS or NGC, do the certification verification. That's a start. Many will have images, or links to where they may have sold before.

If it's too good to be true, it probably is.

Read, study ... and study some more.

It get's easier, and more fun, over time.

I hope it gets more fun. Researching this past week there are so many fake coins and now i see faked slabs. Kinda taking the wind outta my sails.

Seems you need to haul around microscopes, scales, x-ray machines, spectrophotometers to verify if a coin is genuine nowadays...lol.

Ill be mostly dealing with my LCS, been there twice now. He was showing me a couple fake morgans that came in, they stuck to a magnet.

So i think going that route will be safest to begin with as he has been doing it for 20+ years.

Ebay seems a hotbed for potential fakes. Ill steer clear of that initially.

slider23

If you buy from a reputable coin dealer or auction house, it is unlikely that you would purchase a counterfeit.

pursuitofliberty

Don't get discouraged. An ounce of prevention goes a long way.

The one nice thing about Morgan's, there are literally tons of them, in all flavors and sizes. And while there are no doubt fakes, in fake slabs even, there are 10's of thousands of real ones that trade hands every day. As for the fakes, usually you'll start to notice them if you keep looking at coins in different venues and in hand when possible.

Buy a book or two, read up, and then go buy something in a grade you like. Try NOT to buy a coin with any issues other than wear (if circulated), or normal bagmarks (if uncirculated).

Study it until you know how it's supposed to look like (and share so we can comment and offer pointers).

Be patient, but generally, rinse and repeat.

Before you know it, you'll have a growing collection.

TomB

@Shane6596 said:

@pursuitofliberty said:
If you stick with PCGS or NGC, do the certification verification. That's a start. Many will have images, or links to where they may have sold before.

If it's too good to be true, it probably is.

Read, study ... and study some more.

It get's easier, and more fun, over time.

I hope it gets more fun. Researching this past week there are so many fake coins and now i see faked slabs. Kinda taking the wind outta my sails.

Seems you need to haul around microscopes, scales, x-ray machines, spectrophotometers to verify if a coin is genuine nowadays...lol.

Ill be mostly dealing with my LCS, been there twice now. He was showing me a couple fake morgans that came in, they stuck to a magnet.

So i think going that route will be safest to begin with as he has been doing it for 20+ years.

Ebay seems a hotbed for potential fakes. Ill steer clear of that initially.

If you expect to be all-in at one time then it is too much and no one can handle it. However, if you simply take your time (have patience!), have dedication, enjoy yourself and learn then it all falls into place. Sadly, not everyone can follow that and many drop out, but that's okay...this is supposed to be enjoyable and if it isn't enjoyable then one should move to something else.

This might come off as snarky, but it isn't meant to be that way; if you simply know what a coin is supposed to look like then you will defeat the overwhelming majority of counterfeits and if you know what a slab is supposed to look like then you winnow those out easily, as well. Many people buy without knowledge. Don't be one of them.

Shane6596

If you expect to be all-in at one time then it is too much and no one can handle it. However, if you simply take your time (have patience!), have dedication, enjoy yourself and learn then it all falls into place. Sadly, not everyone can follow that and many drop out, but that's okay...this is supposed to be enjoyable and if it isn't enjoyable then one should move to something else.

This might come off as snarky, but it isn't meant to be that way; if you simply know what a coin is supposed to look like then you will defeat the overwhelming majority of counterfeits and if you know what a slab is supposed to look like then you winnow those out easily, as well. Many people buy without knowledge. Don't be one of them.

I understand. This is a new hobby venture for me. Im sure it will be like my other hobbies, ill be hot on em for a bit, take a few months off, then back into it. With all the cold and snow where im at, winter is good for my indoor hobbies, now im adding coin collecting. Im in no hurry, so i think itll work out.

Ill have lots of questions for you guys, so bear with me, lol.

Thanks.

streeter

A classic faked slab was coming out of the Bay Area with 16-D mercs.

The operator got a hold of some new unsealed plastic. He would buy a nice 16-D. Open it up and use the label with a raw 16-D in an undergrade coin. Say he had an xf and the 'new' slab had a vf. He sold the vf for weak xf money to recoup his outlay. But he had a nice xf raw to do what he wished.
He did this more than once.

Jimnight

Yes!

burfle23

@DeplorableDan said:
Yes.

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1082973/the-unofficial-reporting-post-for-fake-pcgs-slabs#latest

Good to see the posted link is useful...

I also have a "few" articles on Coin Week on the subject including this one: https://coinweek.com/counterfeits/an-epidemic-of-counterfeit-1881-cc-morgans-and-bad-pcgs-slabs/

ricko

@Shane6596 .... Read the advice above, study the information at the link provided, buy the reference book on Morgan dollars.... You will have fun, learn a lot, and do well on your collecting ventures. Cheers, RickO

DennisH

There are also fake Morgans that were graded as genuine for several years by PCGS, NGC and ANACS -- the 1896, 1900 and 1902 Micro-Os. After the companies figured out they were fake (in 2005) they all stopped grading them, and PCGS launched an aggressive buy-back effort to get its coins off the market. The last time I was able to access PCGS population data (in June 2019), there were still 22 1896 Micro-Os, 27 1900 Micro-Os, and 32 1902 Micro-Os in PCGS holders in all grades.

In addition, there are also fake 1893-O and 1901-Os that have gotten into certified holders because they aren't nearly as easy to recognize as the Micro-Os are.