The Official Counterfeit Thread ~

asheland

This could be educational.
Let’s post counterfeits as we see them in here.
Coins, currency, or bullion…

This trash came into the shop today:

And this ”silver” bar
Note the square edges and the plastic case last picture this is how they’re usually found.

ldhair

OAKSTAR

Was always interested in the how, why, where, when and what the counterfeits are made of.

The_Dinosaur_Man

@Idhair that fake trime is really intriguing with the repunched 6 in the date. That would have been an excellent variety on a genuine coin.

asheland

Great pictures so far! 👍

OnWithTheHunt

Now have 8 of these. Just find them interesting

OAKSTAR

dcarr

@ldhair said:

.

That 3-cent is really neat.

I suspect that the Panama Pacific half dollar is actually genuine, with past corrosion and cleaning.
But there is also a possibility that it is a cast. How does it ring compared to a genuine 90% silver half dollar ?

.

dcarr

dcarr

Another one:

asheland

@dcarr said:
Another one:

Those appear to be genuine slabs, what’s the story on those?

Namvet69

I posted this fake cast 1886 seated dime as a giveaway study coin. Hit me up. Peace Roy Claimed

pocketpiececommems

OAKSTAR

@pocketpiececommems said:

I'll see your cast and raise you one.

dcarr

@asheland said:

@dcarr said:
Another one:

Those appear to be genuine slabs, what’s the story on those?

.

The slabs are genuine. The coins are vintage counterfeits.
The first one is a 1893-O VAM-7 ("Privately Made").
The second one is a 1893-O VAM-8 ("Privately Made").
Regardless, both made it into slabs which is where they were when I discovered them:
ec2-13-58-222-16.us-east-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wiki/Listed_Privately_Made_Varieties

The 1893-O VAM-7 has the wide gap between the neck and wing, which is the reverse hub type of 1900.
The 1893-O VAM-8 has the doubled denticle below the "L" of DOLLAR.
I discovered and reported the 1893-O VAM-7 (in February 2015), 1893-O VAM-8 (in December 2015), and 1893-O VAM-9 (in February 2021).

.

Apollo_23

I believe this is a fake Morgan GSA. It just looks all wrong. The lettering looks off and blended together. The black background looks like construction paper and not that raised beaded kind. Maybe it's me

ldhair

@dcarr said:

@ldhair said:

.

That 3-cent is really neat.

I suspect that the Panama Pacific half dollar is actually genuine, with past corrosion and cleaning.
But there is also a possibility that it is a cast. How does it ring compared to a genuine 90% silver half dollar ?

.

From what I have been told, the funky S mint mark gives the coin away as a well known counterfeit. I always thought the coin was cast but a well known grader told me it was struck. Maybe it was struck on a cast blank. That could account for the pits.

asheland

@dcarr said:

@asheland said:

@dcarr said:
Another one:

Those appear to be genuine slabs, what’s the story on those?

.

The slabs are genuine. The coins are vintage counterfeits.
The first one is a 1893-O VAM-7 ("Privately Made").
The second one is a 1893-O VAM-8 ("Privately Made").
Regardless, both made it into slabs which is where they were when I discovered them:
ec2-13-58-222-16.us-east-2.compute.amazonaws.com/wiki/Listed_Privately_Made_Varieties

The 1893-O VAM-7 has the wide gap between the neck and wing, which is the reverse hub type of 1900.
The 1893-O VAM-8 has the doubled denticle below the "L" of DOLLAR.
I discovered and reported the 1893-O VAM-7 (in February 2015), 1893-O VAM-8 (in December 2015), and 1893-O VAM-9 (in February 2021).

.

That’s interesting! 👍

burfle23

A pair of mine:

burfle23

I guess I broke the thread ...

OAKSTAR

124Spider

A most clever counterfeit:

TennesseeDave

This was deemed to be a counterfeit by Pcgs several years ago. 1876-S DDO

TennesseeDave

This was a Trade $ that I submitted to Pcgs that was labeled as unverifiable authenticity.

Insider3

@dcarr said:

These are going to be found in every TPGS slab. Gulp, I caught the 1900-O "Privately Made" counterfeit last week in VF condition - only because my "gut" made me put it under the microscope. These things are worth money now and can be found in the bags of junk dollars dealers are buying and selling. No one bothers to look!

burfle23

My favorite from my collection; IMHO proved my original theory the counterfeiters used cull large cent for their planchetts when they started. Coin's metallurgical testing was correct, but the star in front of the face and additional letters on the reverse lead to the discovery it was struck over a later dated genuine large cent.

ambro51

Our favorite counterfeiter himself, Francis Leroy Henning

ambro51

My favorite counterfeit coin is this 8 Real Copper dated “1 88 12”. The coinage of this period is crude and interesting. No doubt this piece passed along with the genuine Morelos issues. Counterfeiting was such a big (and tolerated) operations both genuine and good looking counterfeits were often counterstamped and circulated . General Morelos was quite a guy. He Decreed that either you accepted his copper 8 real coins as if they were silver. If you disagreed, he simply had you shot. He himself, was tried and was shot in 1815.

oih82w8

My 7070 is a little over half filled with counterfeit coins that I use to pass around for people to see the different types of coins before the clad era.

Windycity

1955 DDO

CRHer700

@Windycity said:
1955 DDO

That’s a nicely made one!

Estil

Okay now you guys got me concerned...I thought it was only fairly expensive coins that got counterfeited but apparently there's even cheaper ones like Mercury dimes that get faked? You guys think you could show/point out in these pics how you can tell these are fake? Perhaps a side-by-side comparison to show what to look for? I mean that would really suck if I accidentally got a fake and didn't even know it at first or something.

relicsncoins

Here's a fake Seated Dollar. It was in a box of coins my mother had. I've had if for 15 years, not sure where she got it. I believe the gouge in the shield as well as the raised bumps in the shield are markers for known counterfeits.

oih82w8

Page 2

Namvet69

This is an important thread. Thanks to us all. Peace Roy

OAKSTAR

CRHer700

@OAKSTAR said:

Nice, I must say that it looks better than VG8.

oih82w8

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family both immediate and extended!

Page 3

PerryHall

@OAKSTAR said:

Is ICG the only grading service that slabs contemporary counterfeits?

braddick

BustDMs

1793 anyone?

OAKSTAR

@CRHer700 said:

@OAKSTAR said:

Nice, I must say that it looks better than VG8.

I can't tell @CRHer700. I would resubmit it if NGC or PCGS would slab it but they won't.

OAKSTAR

@PerryHall said:

@OAKSTAR said:

Is ICG the only grading service that slabs contemporary counterfeits?

Yes, I believe so.

Married2Coins

@OnWithTheHunt said:
Now have 8 of these. Just find them interesting

That's scary, I couldn't tell. Do you think the TPGS's would catch one in a group of circ Buffalo's?

Married2Coins

@dcarr said:
Another one:

Are the slabs fake?

Married2Coins

@Married2Coins said:

@dcarr said:
Another one:

Are the slabs fake?

Already answered above. Wow!

OAKSTAR

@OnWithTheHunt said:
Now have 8 of these. Just find them interesting

I sure can't tell. What exactly jumps out at you they are counterfeit?

braddick

@OAKSTAR said:

@OnWithTheHunt said:
Now have 8 of these. Just find them interesting

I sure can't tell. What exactly jumps out at you they are counterfeit?

The size (thickness/thinness) of the buffalo.

OAKSTAR

Okay, thanks @braddick.

OAKSTAR

Married2Coins

Where? I see a die crack through the feather. Where is Jim Young, Tom Delorey, and J.P. Martin?