Options
Does anyone remember The OMEGA MAN?
razorface1027
Posts: 4,242 ✭✭
A couple of years ago, when I again decided to venture the numismatic realm, I was watching the Discover channel. I think one of the "Top dogs" from NGC was doing an exerpt on numismatics. It involved the mint process, the collecting aspect and the financial stability of collecting. The part I had caught, and listened intensly, was his rhetoric about COUNTERFEITERS. He was most emphatic about counterfeiting regarding the $20 St. Gaudens. He stated that there were X amount of counterfeit $20 pieces that were flowing about the market. He said, "I've encountered at least 800 or more of these specimens, and their owners were in a state of dismay!" He continued so on and so forth. What I found interesting was the fact, according to him, that the KEY counterfeiter of X amount of St Gaudens was a person they deemed OMEGA MAN. He was slick, like most that feel compelled to leave their trademark on such works of art. They detected these bogus pieces by looking at the talons of the eagle; whereas, he was supposed to have left his trademark(The sign of OMEGA). Now for the real question! How long ago were the omega man's antics supposed to have been detected by the TOP GRADERS; thus, supposedly flushing out most or all of these counterfeit pieces. Do they still exist? I'm concerned because I've recently purchased a couple of nice Gaudys and would like to know weather or not to be leary of the time frame, in order for me to correlate slab generations to the Discovery Channel exerpt. If one is knowledgable in this area, PLEASE REPLY to this thread. The pieces I've purchased are in PCGS slabs. 1 in 2nd gen: 1 in blue label (barcode rear) and 1 in blue slab (barcode front). I'm not sure of the time between the blues......
What is money, in reality, but dirty pieces of paper and metal upon which privilege is stamped?
0
Comments
Cameron Kiefer
Russ, NCNE
If I had my magnification apparatus, it'd be no problem. It's mysteriously vanished ! DAMN KIDS!...
He also seems to have done some 1882 $3 golds, and the "omega" symbol is in the R of America.
(I don't have a HR saint, but my $3 is an 1882 in an ANACS slab. no sign of an omega)
don't know if the Omega man did any other coins besides these 2, but my understanding is that the coins are so good, that if his hubris hadn't compelled him to sign his work, they would go undetected by all but the very best authenticators, and even fool some of those!
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
<< <i>Hey, if you do figure out that they're counterfeit, you've got the PCGS guarantee to fall back on. >>
Nope. "Omega Man" might be considered a pedigree
history of the modern owner and seller.
The later info in the link does talk about a couple of diagnostics.
There's no question that Omega counterfeits are top-quality. But they still have diagnostics, even beyond the omega symbol.
Before slabbing, there was rampant whizzing, cleaning, tooling, etc. which fooled the unwary. Today the internet, ANA educational videos, and seminars at shows make it much easier for collectors to avoid such problems. The efforts of the bad guys now seem to be redirected towards gold. I would be very, very leery of raw gold. At the PAN show last weekend I saw a collector (who had some nice coins) offer to sell some at the table I was at, and along with some slabbed coins was a raw 1904 $5. The expert at the table ID'ed it as a fake immediately.
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
Free Trial