Ever found out you own a fake coin?

bigbadchad777

Ever found out you own a fake coin? Twice this has happened to me. First I bought a 1925 Fort Vancouver half dollar on eBay. It looked real to me! Sent it to PCGS only to find out it was a copy. After months of harassing the seller, I got a refund. I believe he knew it was a fake and just passed it on to me. Later I purchased a 1915 Panama Pacific half dollar from Coast to Coast Coins. Same deal, it came back from PCGS as a copy. Coin was returned to seller and a refund was given. Are there that many fakes out there or am I just unlucky! My days of purchasing raw coins are over.

Check out my coins listed on eBay:

Russ

Russ, NCNE

Fairlaneman

Yep.

A 1916D Beautiful AU or Possible MS60 Merc Dime that went to ANACS in the Mid 80's and promptly came back BB'd as Fake. I bought it Raw, but then thats all you could do then.

Ken

coinbuf

We all learn the hard way at some time or other. I recently got back a lincoln 14D body bagged from PCGS

relayer

PCGS told me my 1908 $2.5 Gold Indian was "Not Genuine"

But I was able to return it to the seller (a pawn shop) where it's probably been sold again to some other sap.

Fairlaneman

Relayer:

Are we not bound as collectors to keep that sort of Crap out of the System so Future Collectors are not Taken as you were. Heck get your Money back then Destroy the Coin in front of the Pawn Guy.

Just a thought.

Ken

bigbadchad777

I would say that is what happened to the coins that I returned too. Pushed off on someone else! That is counterfeiting!!!!

MrLee

This was my father's. I don't know where he got it but I have a hunch it was from an old time collector who used to live in the neighborhood. He was up in years and sold off quite a bit of his collection to my dad and grandfather. After my dad passed on, I was combining our collections of Jefferson's to put together the best of both sets. It was then I took a close look at his 50-D. This is what I found.
My guess is he never used a loupe on it. It's a 59-D with the tail cut off. To the naked eye it's a nice job. Not a big loss, I just found it kind of funny that this old guy put one over on my dad.

coindaughter

Yes, I posted threads about a gold $3 princess that my Dad bought in the early '80s that ANACS told me is "not genuine."

I've written two letters to the dealer--no response. In fact, the deadline I set in my last letter is tomorrow....I'm going to enlist the ANA's help next. I want to follow it through. I feel I owe it to my Dad to see if we can get it set right.

I'll post results of the adventure if it ever ends.

sinin1

Got snagged on a "die-struck" copy of a $1 gold piece. ANACS sent it back - returned it to ebay seller - they said they didn't get it - I didn't spend the 50cents for delivery confirmation.

Got a 1951 Franklin half - somewhere around fine condition - I thought it was corroded from being buried or something - I wanted to see if I could clean it up with some whizzing - didn't work cuz it isn't silver - looked at the edges - and the things cast - 50 cents must have been worth more at sometime

Got a 1876-S trade dollar - XF details- smaller in diameter by around 1-2 mm and lighter than silver - and bronze colored

Hey, maybe these last 2 are patterns and worth big bucks

relayer

Fairlane -

I wasn't ready to make a $300 donation to the betterment of collector-kind. It may have even been real gold?

I've heard some stories on the origin of these - some were minted when gold ownership was only legal when it was a numismatic gold; some were made in Lebanon as fakes.

I emailed PCGS and ask for more information and all the said was

According to our operations manager, everything about the coin was not genuine. It was as if it was a remake of a coin.

I guess I could have stamped "COPY" on it before getting my money back.

BigD5

I had an 1872 IHC come back as "not genuine". I purchased the coin more than 15 years ago, so it was hard to figure why someone would counterfeit a fairly inexpensive coin. I took it to a show, and only one dealer knew it was fake. The others would have purchased it.
The funny thing is, once it's brought to your attention, the thing screams FAKE.

Conder101

No but I have bought counterfeits that unfortunately turned out to be genuine.

Coinut

I have a 1909"s" VDB that had the S added.It fooled me,and two local long time dealers.It didn't fool ANACS or PCI.It is a VF+ coin and very authentic looking.It is for sale,at a reduced price

dorkkarl

i got nailed a couple of times on contemporary copies of colonials. but oftentimes, the copies are worth as much or more than the real thing. been extremely lucky on modern stuff though. i consider myself fairly proficient at catching things like the S-VDB & the '16-D. but i would not buy a gold $3 unless it was (GASP!) certified.

K S

66Tbird

Yep,,, sold to me buy a Nevada dealer some 20 years ago for $200. Never bought a high end piece raw since.

Ouch!!

CharlieB

Years ago I bought a 1931-s Lincoln through a mail bid
in Coin World. It was one of my first big purchases and
so I took it to a local dealer to show off my purchase.
The dealer said the "s" didn't look right on
the coin and applied actone and the mint mark came right
off the coin. He then handed me a small paperback book
"Detecting Altered and Counterfeit Coins" and said
"Buy this, it will be the best investment you ever make".
Thank goodness I learned early on and had dealers scrutinize
every one of my purchases until I knew what I doing.

- Charlie B -

lathmach

I bought a bust half years ago that turned out to be a contemporary mexican made fake.
When I found out it was bad, so much time had gone by I couldn't remember who I'd bought it from.
This got me started collecting counterfeits. I've learned how to tell when a coin is bad.
I've never got stung since that first time.
Now there's several dealers that will have me look at suspect coins when I meet them at coin shows.


Ray

dorkkarl

speaking of that, i buy counterfeit bust halves. make an offer!

K S

bigbadchad777

Thanks for all of the replies. I feel better knowing I'm not the only person fooled by a fake coin.