Identifying fake Hong Kong Trade Dollars

curtisbalvanz

Greetings! I was looking for some information on identifying fake Hong Kong Trade Dollars and didn't find anything other than some good discussion about fake US Trade Dollars. I spotted a very nice looking 1868 Hong Kong Trade Dollar on eBay (item # 8405798214). With a low starting bid and no reserve, I figured it was a very nice reproduction (the best I've seen) so I asked if the alignment was coin or medal (I had previously bought a reproduction and was disappointed that it was not the correct alignment). The answer came back that it had the "coin" alignment, which confirmed to me that it was a reproduction (although an excellent one). When I mentioned this to the seller, he informed me that he bought this in Hong Kong along with a type set and several other coins and all the "Queen Victoria" coins were coin aligned whereas all the others were medal aligned. He seemed sincere, so I started explaining how the Great Britain, Hong Kong and Straits Settlement Trade Dollars were all medal aligned and the Japan, French Indo-China and US were coin aligned. I tried looking for difinitive documentation on this but could not find anything about alignment. He was honest enough to post my question and his answer on the listing, so that people would know of the alignment. I was just disappointed that I couldn't find anything to back up my statements and wondered if anybody here might know where to look in the future. Best regards, Curtis Balvanz

1jester

Welcome to the forum, Curtis.

danglen

Every fake Trade Dollar I have seen as been significantly underweight, weighing in at 21 to 22 grams. With enough practice, you shold be able to tell the fake just by hefting it in your hand

curtisbalvanz

<< <i>Every fake Trade Dollar I have seen as been significantly underweight, weighing in at 21 to 22 grams. With enough practice, you shold be able to tell the fake just by hefting it in your hand >>



Thanks for the reply. BTW, I recognized your ID from eBay.

With the value of genuine Hong Kong (and Japan) Trade Dollars so high, the problem is how to identify counterfeits BEFORE buying them. I doubt that scammers are going to tell you that their coin weighs less than what the coin catalogs list them as. Surely there must be a catalog or other reference material out there that details how to spot even the most clever counterfeits.

Best regards,
Curtis