Counterfiet Coins

ShaunZ

ooooooooooooops, i pressed th wrong button, is there anyway i can erase the first "Counterfiet Coins?"


my question was... do you guys come by these often, of just rarely, just asking

NoGvmnt

They're out there, mostly key dates (any denomination), gold coins, and trade dollars. But you can find almost anything that has been counterfeited. Hell, they even counterfeited 1999 quarters!

Jim

mrdq

I have a counterfeit 1909 S VDB

makes me sad

certifiedsilverdollar

I got took on a gold dollar liberty head. Only paid 75 on ebay. Too good to be true, probably is....I guess rings true. Offered to sell it to me off site.......and like a dummy I took it. Sent to Anacs and notified it was fake. And wouldn't you know it, I paid by money order, threw out the stub, and deleted all correspondence, so I couldn't even complain to the jerk. But, lesson learned! I hear gold coins are counterfeited the most, and/or have tokens sold as the real deal.

trozau

Bought this lot of Chinese counterfeits on eBay (listed by the seller as counterfeits):

MrLee

A fake 1950-D Nickel I found in my Dad's collection



Someone altered a 59-D.

glassman

I posted a thread on Friday about a counterfeit 1906 O Barber half I found in a change box. Go back a couple of pages here and you might find it. It was titled "From the change box, this barber half has it all", (yeah right).

I find counterfeits very interesting, in a nefarious way.

darktone

If you collect uncertified gold coins you will come across counterfiets on a reglar basis- some can be very decieving. mike

MRK

Just yesterday at a flea market I found an uncirculated bar cent except the S in USA was lying over the A.

ShaunZ

how can you tell if coins are counterfiet?

kranky

There are different ways to counterfeit coins. The ones which can be the most deceptive are the ones which are die-struck on planchets that have the same metal content as the genuine article. A lot of fake gold coins are made this way, and you need to be very sharp to identify them. Other ways are using electrotypes or a mold made from a genuine coin. Altered coins can have a mintmark added or removed, or the date altered using some tools.

The best way to protect yourself is to buy coins which are authenticated by a top service like PCGS, NGC, or ANACS. I've been a collector for many years and even I wouldn't buy certain coins unless they were slabbed. The counterfeiters get better and better all the time.

coinbuf

Get the PCGS counterfiet detection book; it lists and shows the difference on many key date coins.

Chris

jdimmick

The typical counterfiet/altered key-dates I see most often are :

1909-s vdb lincoln and the 16-d merc.
Have seen a few 32-d and s quarters and one 1875-P high grade 20 center recently.

nickel

Always an interesting subject . In viewing , selling , buying , trading , whatever , be aware that counterfeit coins and altered coins are a different breed , made for a different reason . In general , a counterfeit coin (paper money ) is made to use as money in commerce and defraud the government of that country . An altered coin (paper money) is made to defraud the investor/collector/ and or dealer of true value of a collectible . An altered 1916 D dime may still be spent or deposited as a dime with no illegal ramifications . However , an altered 1916 D dime sold as an original may cause a civil action of fraud by the buyer towards the seller of the item .

kranky

nickel, I would have to disagree with that observation. In my collecting experience, both counterfeit and altered are terms which are both used to describe different methods of defrauding collectors. An electrotype is a counterfeit, adding a mintmark is an alteration. Plenty of counterfeit coins are made with no intention of being used in commerce.