Who was the Omega Man?
HalfDime
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The US Mint will be selling Lincoln Cents with an Omega symbol on them in a couple of weeks, but this isn't the first time an Omega symbol has been placed on coins to sell to the US public. Over 100 years ago a famous counterfeiter placed them on many different gold coins to sell to unsuspecting buyers as unknown counterfeits.
The Omega counterfeiter is best known for fake 1907 Saint‑Gaudens High Relief $20 Double Eagles, plus some $10 Eagles and $3 gold pieces, all made of real gold but with subtle design differences.
A microscopic omega symbol was hidden in the design (for example, in the eagle’s claw on the $20 coin or in the "R" of LIBERTY on some others), which allows specialists to attribute the coins to this counterfeiter.
Numismatic organizations and experts have investigated the Omega man for decades, but no proof has ever surfaced tying the operation to a specific individual, mint worker, or government, so the identity remains purely speculative.
Because of this, references to the "Omega man" or "Omega counterfeiter" in coin literature always treat it as an unknown figure rather than a named person.
Who was the Omega man?
Comments
Don't know the answer, but you cite "over a hundred years ago" as the date of the counterfeiting, my impression it was later than that, maybe in the '50s or 60s, do we know when these started showing up?
Charlton Heston
I ws aware of the omega counterfeit high reliefs and three dollar gold pieces
In the early/mid 1970s….. my impression was that they were from that time.
But I’m unaware if they were made in the 1960s.
Beat me to it! Love that flick. Classic 70s.
There were some long and detailed threads on the Omega counterfeiter on this forum in 2018.
But they devolved into personal attacks and were deleted.
If you want to read some of the remaining info, see this thread:
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/993861/omega-counterfeit-mcmvii-summary-wanted
Remember the name.
Forgot the story.
Somewhere DB Cooper is envious
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I believe "Insider" (?) and a few others were Replying to the guy who claimed that his father (a lawyer) was privvy to some Mafioso types who were involved in the Omega MCMVII HR's in the late-1960's/early-1970's.
Unfortunately, the thread(s) were deleted and information was lost in the back-and-forth exchange. I actually had 1/2 of most of the back-and-forth but apparently only the guy claiming the information which means I don't have the questions or CU responses to his posts, just his posts. Makes for confusing reading.
Late 60’s certainly possible, but probably early 70’s.
pulled this from an older thread so I could read at my leasure.......
don't remember the author, but I am sure he will identify himself
Haven't read yet but some may find it interesting........
Professional jealousy 😜
I remember learning about the Omega fakes in the early 1980s, under the impression that they had been struck during the 1970s.
Official PCGS account of:
www.TallahasseeCoinClub.com
That was the guy married to Mrs. Omega.
I pulled that from the now deleted thread. I also have the FBI files from FOIA request of the tail on Bonnanno. He was under constant FBI surveillance for the entire period under discussion.
The author of the original post (@totellthetruth on this forum) was a doctor who is the son of an Arizona lawyer in the same town. He's also a bit of a nut who claimed to solve the zodiac killer crime using spectral analysis on a PHOTO of the letters. [Physically impossible. ] He then claimed to go work for the FBI during the first Trump administration and was most recently here claiming they were making a movie about his zodiac killer efforts which has also never appeared.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
Would a timeline of mid to late 1970s make more sense to better coincide with the lifting of bans on private ownership of gold?
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No. If i recall, they had already been discovered earlier in 1973(?)
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
I guess since the MCMVII HR was clearly a "numismatic" coin that restrictions on owning/buying it didn't apply.
My understanding was it was common knowledge (even 20 years before the TPGs) in the late-1960's that most of the MCMVII HRs had been preserved and thus were still likely in the U.S. even if mostly in people's drawers, jewelry boxes, and SDBs.
As I remember -- and Insider or someone may have been posting 50-year old newsletters warning of the "flood" -- there was a surge of MCMVII HRs sent in to be graded/holdered at ANACS in the early-1970's which set off alarms.
I guess if you are used to seeing 1 or 2 MCMVII HRs a month and all of a sudden you see 5-10 a month, your SpideySense would go off.