1955 DDO cent struck counterfeit photographed (updated text and added an image)...

coppercoins

An article I wrote today after examining a recently discovered struck counterfeit of this popular die variety. Hope you enjoy...

1955P-1DO-001 struck counterfeit

fcloud

Great diagnostic. Thanks for the education!

dwood

Wow Charles! What a GREAT article! Thanks for sharing it with us!

toothpuller

Fascinating and extremely impressive work. Thanks for posting.

goose3

EXCELLENT article and fantastic pictures.

how did you acquire the counterfeit?? someone get stuck with it??

that is one VERY deceiving piece! Exactly why I buy my stuff in slabs.

DesertLizard

Super!

How was the counterfeit made?

FatMan

Excellent article. Thanks for sharing.

braddick

Even close up the counterfeit looks good. Thanks for showing us how deceptive these can be.

GaCoinGuy

Excellent website, CC. Great reading for us novice collectors.

clw54

Was the reverse slightly rotated like the genuine specimens?

kranky

Outstanding article, and the photos are even better!

It reminded me of something I read long ago that if you recognize the diagnostics of the genuine piece, you don't have to worry about new counterfeits.

Great, great job!

coppercoins

<< <i>How was the counterfeit made? >>



I'm not completely sure how the dies were made, but the coin was struck. There are flow lines in some areas.



<< <i>Was the reverse slightly rotated like the genuine specimens? >>



Actually, yes it was. But I wouldn't count on this, not even for all coins from these dies. You never know whether the press was reliable.

coindaughter

CD,
Wowsa! Great info and great photos!
Bravo!

Draco

OUCH!!

Glad I don't collect them because it certainly would have burned me. It's scary buying rare and raw coins.

MastaHanky

I think if that counterfeit was circulated for a while, it'd be even more difficult to tell. Yep, I'm sticking to my slabs for now, mock me all you want.

oreville

CD: Excellent treatise backed up by great photos. I do recall seeing one of those counterfeits on ebay and tried to buy it to take it off the market but alas it got bid too high. I warned the seller that the item was counterfeit but he ignored me. I sent a email to ebay when it was part of the ebay function and they too ignored me.

One thing about 1955 DDO cents...I never buy one without some form of authentication meaning a non ACG slab. This is a wonderful example of BUYER BEWARE!!

Good job, CD!!

Cam40

One other diagnostic not mentioned is the die polish line(s) on the reverse.A vertical line just on the inside of the T in CENTS.
And because of the location of the line it has been said that it can be visible in grades as low as VG and F.

mr1931S

great article on this interesting and dramatic error,C.D..

Do you happen to have any information on 1936 double die obverse? I've got a whole bunch of '36-P Lincolns and can't figure out how to detect any double dies that might be in this group.

The images i've seen of this variety show closeup of the 1936 date to check but i've seen no information on exactly what to look for.Is 10x loupe enough magnification to use?Is there any doubling in "LIBERTY" or "IN GOD WE TRUST" on these?

Any information you might have about '36 DDO would be helpful and appreciated.

clackamas

I can't see the difference even with the photos. In fact some of the subtle die similarities make me think its genuine. More weakly struck and circulated some but ohh so close. You can buy one in that condition for a grand why would someone take the time to make such an awesome copy of the die. Even the die chatter on the real one is coppied over to the counterfeit. Look at the cheek and the die gouge. You can see the remnants on the copy. With the ammount of time it takes they could have made more money working at 7-11. How do you know this was a counterfeit? Heck the worksmanship involved with making the copy makes it more desirable to me than a real one made by accident.

cosmicdebris

Coppercoins great article and photos.

Clackmas I was gonna say the same thing. To me it looks like the counterfit is only a weaker stuck and more worn coin.

Gemini

Any idea what year that the first counterfeits started to appear?
I bought mine back in 1962 from a friend who bought it in 1957 and as of yet I haven't had it certified.

smprfi

Great work,thanks.

ksteelheader

SO, you think that coin would have fooled you!!! Well, it fooled me, and my dealer ( no name ) who has been the business for over 35 years. Yes, that is my coin. I'll be getting my money back as soon as I get the coin back. I do not know what will happen to it after it gets back to the dealer.

THERE IS NO REHEARSAL FOR LIFE.
IF YOU DON'T DO IT RIGHT THE
FIRST TIME YOU WON'T GET A SECOND CHANCE.
AT LEAST MOST OF THE TIME!

agfox

I'm completely and utterly impressed. Thanks for the fantastic information.

I would have been fooled as well I'm sure.

nwcs

Excellent article and great examples. I enjoyed reading through it.

coppercoins

Clackamas, Cosmicdebris - In a nutshell, there is no way possible that this coin could be real. After reading the article you still can't see all the differences? From coin to coin on the same die (all true examples of 1955P DDO#1 were minted with the same die) letters do not change shape, shift from one place to another, etc. The fact that the doubled "L" in "LIBERTY" touches the rim on the counterfeit and is properly spaced from the rim on the real coin doesn't make you think it's fake? How about the weakly hubbed top to the "W" in "WE"? That couldn't be possible on a real coin, it is well known and documented that the "W" doesn't look at all like that on the real thing. What about the thin rim all the way around on both sides? What about the hub doubled reverse? How about the tooling marks on the hub? All this adds up to a fake - no way possible it's real. It is a good counterfeit, though.

As for why someone would do it? They very likely didn't strike this one specimen and walk away. There are probably hundreds of them out there. Some were probably tossed in bags of wheats (after being lightly circulated - pocket worn) to further sales of such, but it's likely that many were passed off to collectors and dealers as the real thing. There could well be some of these out there in slabs (ACG, PCI, etc.) but ANACS caught this one. Anyhow, what I alluded to in the article is that this is not the only type of counterfeit out there. I did not mean that someone else couldn't find another one exactly like it. There are probably at least still 100 others exactly like this one out there today.

As to when this one was made - No clue. There really isn't any way of telling. As mentioned before, fakes started to surface just a couple of years after the effect, so it's every bit possible this one could have been made anywhere between 1955 or 1956 and this year.

And for the die scratches...while they are one of many die markers for this particular die, they are way overplayed as standing out on all genuine specimens. In actuality they are very thin, and on many examples without perfectly even coloration, are nearly impossible to see. I have heard and seen a number of cases where people deemed genuine coins to be fake based on that one marker, which isn't necessarily correct. Yes, it is on all of them to some extent. No, it isn't what I look for first...it's somewhat unreliable because it can be nearly invisible on certain specimens.

coinguy1

Thanks, Charles, for a wonderful post!

Coppernicus

This is a great example of why I am willing to wade through all the "crud" threads on these Boards to find the gems. Superb coppercoins!!! I feel that I've picked up years of experience while I drank my coffee this morning. Absolutely wonderful!!

cladking

Very good, very interesting.

The obverse might have fooled me, but the reverse is just "plain" wrong. It's much too flat.

coppercoins

I revised some of the text and added another photo - of the area around the "T" in "CENT" where a V or X shaped die scratch should be (if it were real).

coppercoins

TTT so others who might have missed it get a chance to see it.